Homily - Sunday Mass 2014/08/17 Being Different

Homily – Sunday Mass

2014/08/17
Scraps for the Dogs - Being different

Matthew 15:21-28 View Readings
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach/San Diego, CA

             One of my favorite movies of all time was Forrest Gump. One of the earlier scenes was the young Forrest getting on the school bus for the first time, and after introducing himself to the bus driver so that they were no longer strangers and could now take a ride from her, he proceeded to search for a seat. Seeing Forrest’s braces on his legs, one kid after another, scoots over to make it unwelcoming to Forrest, and some say “Not here” and “Can’t sit here, this seat’s taken.” He makes his way all the way to the back of the bus without being able to find a seat, turns around, and as he begins to make his way forward again, he comes to Jenny’s seat when She says,  “You can sit here if you want. Well you gonna sit down or aren’t you.” It was a beautiful scene of welcoming someone that is different.

             In today’s Gospel, this mother from Cana, she is looked at as different too, kind of like Forrest. As Jesus and his disciples leave Tyre, and Sidon, an area occupied by gentiles or non-Jews, she approaches the group and asks Jesus for help in healing her possessed daughter. And ultimately Jesus ends up healing her daughter. Forrest

            But it wasn’t without some effort on her part. First as a Canaanite, she likely would have been recognized by the disciples and faced discrimination. Going back to Old Testament times, there was tension between the Jews of Israel, and the Canaanite Gentiles. The Canaanites were the corrupt idol worshippers that the Jews hoped to transform, they were looked at as dogs, less than human by the Israelites, who considered themselves the children of God.

            You can tell she was really trying to approach Jesus and his followers in a humble, peaceful non-threatening way, addressing Jesus as “Lord, Son of David.” She certainly knew who Jesus was, and in this small fragment of a sentence, we can see that she has at least some faith in Jesus as the Messiah, as the awaited savior. She must have heard of some of the other instances of Jesus performing miracles of healing.

In her peaceful attempts to call out to Jesus, she was first uncharacteristically ignored by Jesus and then turned away by the disciples. Then Jesus speaks that he was only sent for “the lost sheep of Israel.” He was sent for the chosen race of the Israelites, implying that he was not sent to save the gentiles from Cana, to which the woman replies, Lord help me. Jesus replies again saying that it isn’t right take the food from the children and throw it to the dogs, Jesus said that it is not right for his help to go to the people of Cana: the dogs, instead of the children of God: the Jews. However, seeing that Jesus did not say no, she so wisely replies “Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” It is a meaningful response of great faith, and her perseverance is rewarded, by Jesus complying with her request, and offering to heal her daughter if it was the mother’s will.

            Today’s Gospel is not only a great example of Jesus’ miraculous healing, but it is a redefinition of who it is Jesus has come for. As some of you know Jesus didn’t just show up, the Jews were expecting him. Throughout the Old Testament there were prophecies that a savior would come to restore the people of Israel’s relationship with God. So you can imagine, that those Idol worshipping, Pagan people of Cana would not be expected to receive the graces of the Messiah, what Jesus did had great significance in including them.

            And today’s Gospel is also a great story of a woman’s faith, and her perseverance to get her child help. She had a daughter that was sick, and contrary to all that she would have been taught as a child, she recognized Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, as being able to help. She overcame being a Canaanite, she overcame not being a Jew, she overcame the disciples’ rejection, and ultimately with the help of Jesus, she overcame her daughter’s possession by demons. As most parents would do, with her daughters well-being on the line, she gave it her all to get her daughter help.

            And today’s Gospel serves for us to realize that being different does not mean being excluded.  It means that no matter how we view ourselves as unworthy, unfit, incapable, undeserving, or just different. We are worthy of Jesus’ love and healing. That if we walk towards him, when we show our faith in him, he will respond.

But it also means that when we encounter people in our lives that are different than us we shouldn’t cast judgment first. We need to be willing to be welcoming to others that appear different than us. Whether bound to a wheelchair, covered in tumors or scars, or unable to talk, walk, or see. They too are worthy of Jesus’ love, and should be worthy of ours.

            I encourage you, to look at your lives, look for an Uncle or Aunt, brother or sister that has been shunned out of the family, look for a neighbor or old friend that you no longer talk to, look for opportunities to serve a stranger, and exercise mercy like Jesus did, exercise kindness like Jenny did for Forrest. There are many people we turn away from because we are uncomfortable. Exercise kindness and understanding. There are many opportunities to show our perseverance in our faith to show that we believe that Jesus did not come for some, but came for the many who believe in him.