Jesus casts out a demon
Jesus meets a Canaanite woman.
This woman, desperate for the suffering of her daughter who is tormented by a demon, begs Jesus to have mercy on her pain. Jesus, admiring the faith of this stranger, heals his daughter.
This Gospel passage teaches us that we must pray and persevere with faith even when it seems useless to hope against all hope.
The religion practiced by the Canaanites at that time was polytheistic with numerous deities including Baal, Astarte and Dagon.
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Gospel - Matthew [15:21-28]
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.”
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
(Mt 15:21-28).
Meditation - Canaanite Woman
Jesus, passing through the upper part of Tyre and Sidon, arrived at the coast, there a woman from Cana goes to meet him, this woman had come a long way to look for Jesus, because she had the hope that he could heal her daughter, as soon as she saw him I began to cry out: Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David! My daughter is very tormented by a demon.
This woman was probably the first time she met Jesus and the most shocking thing is that she manages to understand his mystery and reveals it in that cry "Lord, have mercy on me, son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." Using the term Son of David, he recognizes him as the Messiah and in that cry he forcefully affirmed "you are indeed the Son of God". In this plea of his it was as if he were saying "since you are the Son of God, I entrust myself to you, you alone can heal my daughter.
Jesus does not answer, he does not even address a word to him, yet silence does not discourage her, but transforms her excited haste into a pain that she manifests with louder cries, because she has no other weapons. The disciples, annoyed by the woman's constant cries, implored Jesus: Hear her, for she comes after us crying out!" Were they upset because she was a pagan? The text does not say that Jesus was annoyed. But Jesus' answer is unpredictable: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In practice, he tells him, you are not my daughter yet, I can't do anything for you.
This foreign woman was aware that she had no right to ask Jesus for anything, because at that time women were denied every opportunity and rights in society, and in addition she was also a Canaanite, she came from an environment of idolatry, those of Cana were considered pagans, impure begins to be avoided, and had been excommunicated by the Jewish community. Only her faith and her courage as a mother push her to ask for her daughter's healing. Jesus' response brings about a change in her, she is no longer the desperate mother screaming for her daughter, now she is a woman who wants to say to Jesus: I too am a lost sheep, take me on your shoulders.
Jesus' answer does not block her, she does not lose heart, with courage the woman escapes from their custody and leaps before Jesus, throwing herself at his feet forcing him to stop, saying: "Lord, help me! What an incredible gesture he prostrated himself before everyone in an extraordinary gesture of adoration and faith, begging "help me". Jesus' answer seemed to admit of no reply, yet what contained in this woman's heart was the unshakable certainty that the Son of God would listen to her despair and his hope for the healing of her daughter.
Jesus' words to this poor desolate woman seem insensitive and hard-hearted. How do you treat an afflicted mother like this? But Jesus, who surely read his heart, wanted to sift his certainties, so he answered him: "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." After such an answer that seemed to exclude the woman from any right with not even the right to ask, because the bread should not be wasted to give it to those who were not worthy, And then who would have dared to insist? Jesus put her to the test, she resisted, she did not doubt the love of Christ, even though it was so hidden.
Unexpectedly, and the woman answered, It is true, Lord, and yet the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. The woman did not question Jesus' statement: she did not desire bread intended for others, but she was certain that even a crumb would be enough to fulfill his request.
Faced with a faith and hope that transcends all barriers, Jesus admires and praises her, saying: "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And from that moment on, his daughter was healed.
This account teaches us that one of the deepest causes of suffering is seemingly unheard prayers. God seemed deaf, but God listens even when he seems not to listen, certainly sometimes he delays in hearing us, this to make our desire grow, to allow the reason for our prayer to rise, to guide us beyond material things to spiritual things, from earthly things to eternal things, from small things to great things, to give us much more than we wished to ask of him. How many times do we too find ourselves faced with God's silence: in this woman we find a reason for hope in persevering always.
A great admirer of the Canaanite was St. Augustine, that woman reminded him of his mother Monica. She, too, had pursued the Lord for years, crying and asking him for the conversion of her son. She was not discouraged by any refusal, and concluded: "This is what the Canaanite woman did: she asked, she sought, she knocked at the door and she received. We do the same, and it will be open to us too.
We, too, may one day be challenged by Jesus in the field of faith like this woman. He gave her the opportunity to win, thus encouraging all of us to pray to God with the certainty that we can win. The Canaanite woman has won, she has won a place as a daughter in the heart of God and us?.
