“I want to welcome all of our families that welcomed us into their homes today for this sacred liturgy, so greetings to all of you at home and you are with us in spirit. I noticed particularly the bulletin this morning and it’s a beautiful picture of a church and it says the quote from the conclusion from the first reading today, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.’ You know, that has tremendous ramifications for all of us. That was a brave statement that Isaiah made. You see, the people of Israel had just come home from exile, exile by foreigners, people who had persecuted them and exiled them, defiled their temple and here in the first reading it says, ‘Any foreigner who comes to me with a sense of justice and kindness and goodness shall be one of my own.’ and thus it concludes, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.’ Tremendous ramifications for all of us as we on Earth as we on Earth anticipate what it might be like in Heaven and how we might prepare ourselves for that in knowing that in our hearts and homes and our churches all people are welcome or should be.
Jesus had many temptations although there doesn’t say the devil was always there. The time in fact though when Peter said, ‘Lord nobody’s ever gonna touch you. You’re not going to die. You’re not gonna suffer.’ And he said, ‘Get behind me Satan. You’re speaking like a man not like God.’ He was tempted in lots of ways. The Pharisees tempted him. Today he was tempted. He’s walking along in Tyre, Sidon and supposedly for once minding his own business and this lady comes along, a Canaanite woman. The disciples try to discourage her, ‘Don’t bother him. He’s too busy. He’s in prayer. Don’t bother him!’ She says, ‘My daughter is terribly sick, possessed by a demon. You’ve got to help her.’ We might think was he the only person? Maybe he was the last resort. How many sorcerers or doctors or people that were known to be of healing had she maybe attempted to ask for help and nothing happened? Nothing changed. Jesus said, ‘I’m sorry, but I have come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and you you are a Canaanite woman.’ There’s a couple of undertones that we might look at. First of all, she was a stranger. She was a Gentile and at the time that Matthew wrote this Gospel they were having a difficult time, the early Church, in accepting the the Gentile converts as you know anything about the council of Jerusalem. Peter and Paul had a little bit of a tiff if you will. Peter was a little reluctant. It was over the whole thing of circumcision and Paul insisted, you don’t have to become Jewish to become Christian. You don’t have to follow Mosaic Law to follow Christ. That’s how that undertone is, so Matthew’s audience had experienced some of that. They had a difficult time. Second thing is, she was a woman and she overstretched her boundaries. Approaching a man for a favor? Probably most likely she was a widow down at the lowest rung of the socioeconomic status and she had the gall to ask Jesus for help. It seems strange doesn’t it, the response he made? Doesn’t it seem like Jesus was out of character? And maybe he was being troubled the fact that he was a faithful Jew and that he really was intent on saving the people of Israel, but somehow she inserted herself into Jesus’ life. Maybe it was a bit of shock therapy? First of all for us, faith, hope and belief is an effort. The woman made the effort when often we feel that it is our right that we have faith that rather than dismiss her or walk away, he engaged her in a conversation and allowed the disciples, those Jewish people, to witness this one act play with a happy ending. God’s salvation is a plan for all peoples.
What ramifications does that have for us today in our society? All want to be invited and to be included to have a seat at the table of life, of justice, of love. All of us want a place at the table. We know what that might be like. 14 guests show up at our home and there’s only 12 place mats. Don’t we find an extra space to include all? Sometimes I cringe say if I’m at a wedding or funeral as a guest and I hear the presider announce right at communion time, ‘If you’re not in the state of grace you’re not welcome to come to communion or if you’re not Catholic.’ I’m not saying you should give permission, all I’m saying is why is that so necessary to say such things? I cringe and I’m almost thinking I’m embarrassed by such statements. So uncalled for but it’s a statement of exclusion on purpose and I don’t think Jesus ever showed or manifested that at any time. We like the disciples could say to the strange woman, ‘You have no right to be badgering and asking for help.’ Is this the voice of the woman who with her children have come to our shores for safety and a new life? Is there any different than the Canaanite woman who just asked to be accepted and her daughter be healed or in our Church what does it mean without being disrespectful, does everyone in our Church have a seat at the table where all are welcome in the same way or are some relegated to the back room? Are some more equal in our Church that others or are we comfortable living with this? If not how long can we bear it? How will we understand Heaven when we experience so much when something’s different on Earth? The story of the Canaanite woman is the story of all of us. All of us have knelt down before God in our desperate times and we’ve asked for help and we had our families to pray with us and to be with us and I want us to think of Jesus placing ourselves in His shoes when those who come asking for help, whatever it might be, a place at the table and we respond to those, ‘Never in all of Israel have I seen such faith!’ Isn’t that our testimony to God’s presence in our life?”