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| Drouais, Jean-Germain, 1763-1788 "Christ and the Canaanite Woman" Jean and Alexander Heard Vanderbilt Divinity Library |
click on this link to listen to the sermon "Lord, Have Mercy!"
Text for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time is Matt 15: (10-20), 21-28. Jesus and his disciples are confronted by a woman from the region of Syrio-Phoenicia, a "Canaanite" pleading for mercy and the healing of her daughter tormented by a demon. In this gripping account, Jesus initially ignores the woman, than refuses her offer for help, while the disciples ask Jesus to send her away, but her persistence and faith in a God who offers mercy to all removes all barriers of resistance. This lesson from the Gospel not only challenges us because of Jesus' unusual response, but because it is also born out of the church's early experience with the challenge of the inclusion of Gentiles into the faith community. Today, can this lesson possibly speak to the social tensions faced in our contemporary society?
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