Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss

Dear friends,

Today's Gospel gives us an example of a woman in action—a mother whose young daughter has an unclean spirit or a demon. She's desperate to find someone to help her—and when she hears about this healer who has come to town, she takes the risk of violating cultural norms as a Gentile woman to approach him.

She goes to the house where he's staying and bows submissively before him to ask his help. But he rejects her request, saying “it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." The woman doesn't take this insult as an answer, though. She comes right back with a response: "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

I can almost see Jesus' startled reaction. Someone's talking back to him? And then his rueful laugh as he realizes she's made a good point. For saying that—for not accepting my answer—your daughter has been healed.

Jesus rejecting a request from someone in need? What's going on here?

This story has traditionally been seen as an illustration of how Jesus' message will eventually go to the Gentiles. It's also been interpreted as Jesus assessing the woman's faith or demonstrating her faith to the hidden disciples in the room.

But you could also see the story as one where Jesus' humanity shows. He's tired, irritated that someone has found him when he didn’t want to be found, and perhaps even more irritated that this person is a Gentile—and a woman.

Her resourcefulness, persistence, faith, and wit snap him back to the reality that she is a human who needs help, not a non-person he can ignore.

This unnamed woman shows us that questioning and curiosity and persistence are a part of human nature. These attributes bring rewards and sometimes pain to our lives, but also growth to us as individuals and to the Church as a whole.

Let us also remember to look out for the folks who question us and our values. They, too, are beloved by God and deserve our full attention—or at least more than the crumbs under the table.

—Dcn Leah