20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 16, 2026

We must have faith in God’s goodness against all indications to the contrary/God’s love is for all peoples…

GOSPEL

Matthew 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus' disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

Some Thoughts on This Scripture

Reflection
This is not the first biblical figure to argue with the Lord: Genesis and Exodus tell of times when Abraham and Moses gave out to God. This woman is different from the scribes who often tried to trap Jesus with arguments. She is begging for her daughter. There is something teasing and humorous about Jesus' first reply to her. He enjoyed that Semitic style of thrust and counter. His first response is what we often experience in prayer: no give. But a mother seeking health for her child is not easily deterred, and Jesus rewards her persistence -- I imagine him smiling as he blesses her.

Reflection
Lord I want to remember this. When I want something badly, I will keep after you and if necessary give out to you.

Reflection
We admire the mother or father who really fights for their child. They won't take no for an answer if their child is being bullied or treated unjustly in any way, they will fight for the best medical treatment for their sick child. The woman in the gospel is like that. She has a sick child and really wants healing. Who would not want the same? She almost forces Jesus into curing her little daughter. Her persistence is an effect of her faith, and because of her faith Jesus cures her child.

Reflection
There are many ways to ‘hear' words. They can be just sound, external meaning, like giving information or directions. The word of God is more like the word of a friend, spoken to the mind and to the heart. Or it is like the words of a caring parent giving advice or directions out of love. The Word of God gives meaning to life and is spoken always in love. Prayer is giving time to hearing this word on the deepest levels of our heart.

Reflection
‘Dogs' was a name for the Gentiles - and in this story the woman plays on its meaning to get Jesus to feed the dogs and, in this way, care for her. Maybe this is a ‘change moment' for Jesus when he realises through this poor woman that he is sent not only to his own lost ones, but that his mission is for the whole world.

Reflection
In the tradition preserved for us in the Scriptures, Jesus is presented to us as a formidable debater but in this instance the Canaanite woman comfortably wins the debating point. Jesus praises the woman for her faith but what was her faith? What did she believe about Jesus? One would love to know her subsequent history. Did this act of Jesus mark a turning point in her life? We do not know. 

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

I wish some of these gospel passages could be rewritten to make it easier for us preachers! The Canaanite woman comes to Jesus asking for help for her “tormented” daughter. She voices her petition in a way similar to others who came asking for Jesus’ help, “Have pity on me, Son of David!” She may not be Jewish, but she is even calling him by the messianic title. When others used this title they received a favorable response. But to the woman’s desperate request, Jesus’ is initially silent. Even his disciples want him to do something. Their request, “Send her away” (or as some have it, “dismiss her”), may suggest they wanted Jesus to drive out the demon and heal the daughter. But Jesus gives two responses, one to the disciples and the other to the woman. Both are discouraging. To the disciples he says, in effect, “She is not one of us [i.e., of the house of Israel]. She’s not one to whom I have been sent.” Sounds exclusive to me; hardly what we usually get from the universal Savior our faith professes. Would he exclude certain groups of people from our worship assemblies? Would the newcomer to our country find a warm welcome in his church?  Would he favor the benefactors over the welfare mothers and their crying infants in the back row? Would he want teenagers to dress according to code? Does he hear the prayer of someone who hasn’t prayed in thirty years as much as he does the devout nun in a monastery? Does he confirm the notions of those exclusive Christians who see all others as “infidels” of one kind or another? Not a very helpful notion during these days of religious strife, border incursions and terrorist threats against “others.”  We don’t need more sounds of exclusivity in our faith. We don’t need to sound like we are professing faith in a God who is on “our side” against “them.” To the petitioning woman Jesus speaks about taking the food of the children, the Jews, and “throwing” it to the dogs. Are we talking “pearls before swine” here? What kind of back-hand response was that? I would have preferred just the opening and closing part of the story: a desperate mother asks Jesus’ help, she acknowledges his messianic prerogative, and he rewards her by curing her daughter. There –  isn’t that what we have come to expect in these miracle stories? I’d rather not deal with the messy matter in the middle. Unfortunately, I didn’t write this gospel, Matthew did. We’ll have to work with what he gives us. But as preacher today, I wouldn’t sugar coat or ignore the rough edges of the story. Those who will hear the gospel proclaimed will not fail to miss the peevish or exclusive sounds of Jesus’ statements. For sure, they will be thinking, “Let’s see how you handle this one preacher!” What is Jesus doing “in the region of Tyre and Sidon” in the first place? It’s pagan territory.  Remember when he was among his own he met opposition. He may be getting away for rest or be taking a break from all the conflict he has been meeting. Ironically, among non-believers he hears a distressed Canaanite mother call him by the title he might have hoped to have heard from his own people, “Son of David.” How could he, in the end, ignore her? Some would interpret in less strident ways his harsh sounding response to the woman. “Dogs” is what the Jews called the Gentiles. However, the word Jesus uses in this passage for dogs is better translated, “pups.” But, even as we reduce the sting of his address to her, Jesus is still saying that salvation is to come through the Jews first. You can tell from our first reading that the Israelites heard that they had a vocation to the world; their faith was to be the way God reached out to all peoples. “The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord ...them I will bring to my holy mountain...for my house shall be called a house of prayer for ALL peoples.”  Isaiah’s words were not merely to be a prediction for some bright day in the future but were a call to act on God’s design and bring “all peoples” to God.  But Israel was frequently in a battered and defensive position, surrounded by unbelievers of all kinds. Quite naturally she became protective and insular, seeing the outside world as a danger to her faith and the faith of her young ones. The vast and inclusive vision of Isaiah is still a challenge to all believers. We have to make sure that, as we deal with charges and accusation from the outside, our God doesn’t get too small and become a God for a select few insiders who know the doctrines and rituals we profess. Turns out God’s plan is not confined and the woman’s faith in Jesus is a clear revelatory event to him. God is breaking through narrow categories and channels, reaching beyond the usual frontiers. Somehow she recognizes that God is much bigger and more inclusive than any narrow box religious people might use to try to contain God. By the woman’s turning to Jesus and his favorable response, the readers of Matthew’s gospel learned to reflect on their shared religious customs and life together.  Matthew’s community was originally Jewish with a few Gentile converts among them. This story must have been an encouragement to them to work out previous differences, find ways to live in harmony and common faith in Jesus. God may very well have first addressed Israel, but now all are welcome; the gate has been swung wide open. But the woman’s blight is not primarily one of religious doctrine. Her daughter, she says is “tormented by a demon.” At its heart, this is a story of a mother with a terribly distressed child. Who knows what strange behavior the child was manifesting. Perhaps she was even there with the mother. The times have changed a lot since Jesus’ day when illness or mental afflictions were attributed to roaming demons who happened to pounce upon and possess a person.  But we don’t have to look far to be able to name a father, mother or grandparent suffering because of a child. Notice the mother’s request, “Have pity on ME...” —such it the suffering a parent takes on when a child is distressed. Indeed, the parent would rather suffer in place of the child and is indeed suffering at least as much as the child. We pray for parents in the congregation today who are voicing a similar prayer for a child or grandchild, “Have pity on me, Lord.... My daughter/son/grandchild is tormented.” Some children seemingly change overnight and exhibit clear signs of torment—from drugs, alcohol, sexual addiction, abuse, rebellion, etc.  They show “possessed behavior”: turning on parents, family, friends and teachers; becoming violent, drifting, turbulent, troublesome at school; associating with a new and rough element; becoming indifferent in class and rejecting activities they once loved. What a torment for those who love them! Most often, even before we pray for ourselves, we offer desperate prayers for these children we love so much and can’t seem to help. How many parents, desperate to help their children, like the Canaanite woman, have accompanied them to talk to teachers, or sit hours with them in the company of counselors and therapists to calm their troubled and tormented spirits? All the while, voicing in these or other words, this Canaanite mother’s prayer, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David.  My daughter/son is tormented.” The woman’s story also reminds us that we too have come to Jesus through the Jews. We share the same faith; we see the hope this faith gave our ancestors in their wait for salvation. We are reminded we have no claim to priority with Jesus. With the woman and her daughter, we are recipients of grace—all has been freely bestowed on us. What we see with this gift of sight is the God Jesus reveals to the woman; a God who would draw us close, sees our distress and helps us. The woman also teaches us perseverance in prayer. We pray not to have God finally relent to our persistence. We persevere in prayer because we know through Christ, we have a hearing before God. Our prayer keeps us expectant and ready to recognize God’s help when it does arrive.

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

Observe what is right, do what is just.—Isaiah 56:1

The prophet Isaiah is quite clear in this passage. God calls his people to be signs of His presence in the ways they treat others. Why would this be important? Why doesn’t God just ask for prayers? It is because we are called to be participants in the work of salvation in creation. God is asking us to create a more just world. If you study the document on the laity, that was produced by the Vatican II Council on November 18, 1965, you will find this message quite clearly pronounced: With a constantly increasing population, continual progress in science and technology, and closer interpersonal relationships, the areas for the lay apostolate have been immensely widened particularly in fields that have been for the most part open to the laity alone. These factors have also occasioned new problems which demand their expert attention and study (1). Christ's redemptive work, while essentially concerned with the salvation of men, includes also the renewal of the whole temporal order. Hence the mission of the Church is not only to bring the message and grace of Christ to men but also to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel (5). The laity must take up the renewal of the temporal order as their own special obligation. Led by the light of the Gospel and the mind of the Church and motivated by Christian charity, they must act directly and in a definite way in the temporal sphere. As citizens they must cooperate with other citizens with their own particular skill and on their own responsibility. Everywhere and in all things they must seek the justice of God's kingdom. The temporal order must be renewed in such a way that, without detriment to its own proper laws, it may be brought into conformity with the higher principles of the Christian life and adapted to the shifting circumstances of time, place, and peoples. Preeminent among the works of this type of apostolate is that of Christian social action. . .(7). The facts are: (1) Our faith life must include the work of Christian social action and (2) The fullness of Christian spirituality is found in me, thee, and other. Are you engaged in a full Christian life?

Faith Book

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district [Tyre and Sidon] came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!”...Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

Reflection: Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for his lack of strict observance of religious customs and traditions.  He responded by calling them hypocrites who only pay lip service to God.  In contrast, Jesus praised the pagan Canaanite woman for having great faith.  So, who are the truly pious and observant in Jesus’ eyes?  Those who see in him God’s gracious desire to heal, forgive and welcome to the table.  

So, we ask ourselves: 

• Who are the “Canaanites” in our society, those we would push aside as unimportant and second class?

• Is it possible that in listening to them we might hear God be speaking to us?

• Have I ever discovered God in surprising ways and in the most unusual people?

Postcards to Death Row Inmates

“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out.”—Pope Francis

Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.  

 Please write to:  

 • Welsey T. Smith                     #0765397 (On death row since 5/29/2002)

• John H. Thompson                 #0406487 (11/14/2002)

• Terry (Al-Bayyinah) Moore      #0290634 (6/14/2003)

Central Prison, PO Box 247, Phoenix MD, 21131 (While the prison is in Raleigh, mail for inmates is processed at this address). For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network.

ENCOUNTER CHRIST REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

Preparation for the Session

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence.  Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

Opening Prayer

Adapted from Thomas Merton: Lord, there have been times when I was ready to give up, believing that nobody cared about my pain or that of a love one.  Believing that nobody cared about the state of the earth.  I need to remember Lord, that you care for me and mine and I need to remember your goodness when it seem all is lost.

Companions for the Journey

From Living Space, A Service of the Irish Jesuits

Jesus is seen on one of his few visits outside Jewish territory. The cities of Tyre and Sidon are on the Mediterranean coast in what is today Lebanon. While he is there he is approached by a Canaanite (that is, a non-Jewish) woman whose child is “troubled by a demon”. Whether it was an actual possession or some natural physical or mental ailment does not really matter.  Already the woman’s faith and trust in Jesus is indicated by the way she addresses him, “Lord, Son of David!” coupled with her plea for his compassion. At first, Jesus ignores her completely. The disciples intervene and ask Jesus to give her what she wants because she is making such a nuisance of herself. Jesus replies that his mission is only to the “house of Israel”, to which this woman clearly does not belong. n the meantime the woman continues her pleading, “Help me, Lord!” She is following, in fact, advice that the Gospel gives – keep on asking. Jesus replies in words that sound very harsh, if not racist: “It is not right to take the children’s food and give it to the dogs.” ‘Dogs’, together with ‘swine’, was a common colloquial expression among Jews for Gentiles (cf. Matt 7:6: “Do not give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before swine.”) The dog was regarded as an unclean and promiscuous animal. Because it was such a common expression, it is probably not as harsh as it sounds to us and, if spoken with a measure of humor (implied by Jesus’ use of the diminutive, ‘doggies’), would not have given offence at all. As they say, everything is in the tone of voice. (Not unlike when my Chinese friends call me a gwai-lo [‘devil fellow’] – a common term for non-Chinese.) Jesus was not a racist; that is clear from other situations where he dealt with non-Jews and with other commonly despised groups. For her part, the woman certainly is not in the least fazed. She comes right back: “Even the dogs eat the leavings that fall from their masters’ tables.” That was enough for Jesus. She had proved her genuineness. “Woman, you have great faith. Your wish will come to pass.” Her daughter was cured on the spot. It is a hint of what is to come. Membership of God’s people will be measured not by birth or circumcision but by a living faith in Jesus as Lord. A story like this is an occasion for us to look at our own attitudes to people of other races, ethnic groups and nationalities not to mention the socially disadvantaged or physically or mentally disabled – in other words, any people who are ‘different’. How inclusive are we in word and action? And does our parish community go out of its way to provide a welcome for the ‘outsider’? These are very real questions in societies which are becoming more and more inter-cultural.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions:

Have I ever seen the hand of God in unexpected situations?
How did I react?

Did the reaction of the Canaanite woman surprise you?   How would you have reacted if the first answer you got from Jesus was “no”?

Has it ever seemed that at times God was ignoring me, or at least distant and unapproachable?
Does a petition or hope send me away in defeat or resentment, or does it call forth an energy and determination to make myself known and heard?
Have I ever felt that my misery was ignored by God, as Jesus seemed to ignore the Canaanite woman at first?

Do I see in this woman an indomitable spirit that will never give up hoping and praying for someone she loves?  

Who or what in my own life calls out that persistence in me?

Her prayer to Jesus was an expression of both helplessness and trust.  Where in my prayer life have I expressed both?

Often we think of faith as belief in a set of theological constructs, but Jesus in this paragraph identifies faith as a trust in his love and kindness.  How would I characterize the word “faith” in my own life?

In chapter 10 of this gospel Jesus tells his disciples not to stray out of Jewish territory, and at the beginning of this segment of chapter 15, he seems to be emphasizing that his mission is to the House of Israel only. However, by the end of the section, we see that Jesus has learned something profound about the faith of a non-Jew, and changes his negative response to a positive one.   
Do I forget that Jesus had to learn how to walk, how to be a carpenter, how to pray, how to shape a mission, how to follow it, and that this learning might be a gradual process, subject to possible human error?

Is it hard for me to think of the humanity of Jesus, with its attendant learning curve? 
Is it hard for me to think of Jesus having to learn things about his mission?
Although theology tells me that Jesus is both God and human do I frequently dwell on Jesus’ divinity, at the expense of his humanity?

Do I harbor, maybe even unconsciously, a sense of exclusivity about how the faith should be lived out and by whom?
Who are the people in your life that you don't pay enough attention to?
Might the purpose of this story be to illustrate that membership in God’s kingdom is not limited to religious identity or to other external circumstances?  Do I harbor an unconscious sense that my affinity group (religion, ethnicity, university affiliation, country of origin, etc) is better than others, or even more beloved by God?

“Dogs” was a Jewish name for Gentiles, and Jesus’ expression raised no eyebrows in his own time, when ethnic and tribal loyalty in the face of danger from the outside was the norm.   Many of us have more unconscious tribal tendencies than we want to admit to. Do I have epithets or subtle exclusionary names for the “others” in my life?  
Does my parish or my social group provide welcome for “the other”, for the outsider?

Have I ever felt like an “outsider”?

Have you ever participated in an interreligious dialogue? 
What happened?

Closing Prayer

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

From Sacred Space: Lord, I want to remember this.When I want something badly, I will persist, even when the answers are not to my liking. Help me to be transformed by whatever answers you give me in my prayer life.

For the Week Ahead

Weekly Memorization: (Taken from the gospel for today's session) Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: Jesus’ tone in much of the exchange with the non-Jewish woman seems rather exclusionary. In this very story, Jesus’ assumptions about certain groups in our present day might be: 

• Would he exclude certain groups of people from our worship assemblies?  

• Would the newcomer to our country find a warm welcome in his church?  

• Would he favor the benefactors over the welfare mothers and their crying infants in the back row?  

• Would he want teenagers to dress according to code?  

• Does he hear the prayer of someone who hasn’t prayed in thirty years as much as he does the devout nun in a monastery?  

• Does he confirm the notions of those exclusive Christians who see all others as “infidels” of one kind or another?  

• Are any of these possibilities above a reality in today’s religious groups, including mine?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship: Could we treat this pagan woman’s dialogue with Jesus as a prayer of petition and her response as a prayerful and honest reaction expressing her disappointment and feistiness?   How often is our Prayer “sanitized”—expressing what we think God wants to hear?  In many of the psalms (often called Psalms of Lamentation) we see a people who are honest and raw in their feelings about life, and willing to share their frustrations with God. Read selections from Psalm 42, then write your own honest psalm about where you are in your life right now: My tears have become my bread, by day, by night, as they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning oppressed by the foe?” With a deadly wound in my bones, my enemies revile me, saying to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: I read selections from psalm 69:
Save me, O God, for the waters have risen to my neck.
I have sunk into the mud of the deep, where there is no foothold.
I have entered the waters of the deep, where the flood overwhelms me.
I am wearied with crying aloud; my throat is parched.
My eyes are wasted away with waiting for my God.
More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without cause.
Many are those who attack me, enemies with lies.
What I have never stolen, how can I restore?
To my own kin I have become an outcast,
a stranger to the children of my mother.
But I pray to you, O LORD, for a time of your favor.
In your great mercy, answer me, O God, with your salvation that never fails.
Rescue me from sinking in the mud; from those who hate me, deliver me.
Save me from the waters of the deep,
lest the waves overwhelm me.  Let not the deep engulf me, nor the pit close its mouth on me.
LORD, answer, for your mercy is kind; in your great compassion, turn towards me.
Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in distress.

I consider how many times we as humans turn to God only in times of personal crisis.  What am I hoping for when I pray at moments like these?  Do I just want to share my anxiety, and yes, my anger?  Or do I want to manipulate God into changing the plans set out for my life? Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies says: Here are the two best prayers I know: “Help me, help me, help me”, and “Thank you, thank you, thank you”. A woman I know says, for her morning prayer: ”Whatever”, and then for the evening, “Oh well”, but has conceded that these prayers are more palatable for people without children. What do I think that prayer is for anyway?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action: In the midst of  financial crises, war, disease and oppression, mothers are watching, helpless, as their children go hungry. In the face of built-in inequality, mothers are watching, frustrated, as their children lack the basic learning tools and experiences to thrive and grow into their potential. In the face of the opioid crisis, mothers watch in pain as their children succumb to anxiety and hopelessness, seeking escape from the lives they are living. In the system of institutionalized racism, mothers watch in fear as their young sons are targeted for violence simply because of the color of their skin. How do we answer the pleas of these mothers, spoken and unspoken? How do we help them nurture and protect their beloved children? The first step would be to earn more about the causes of these social ills.  The next step would be to pick one cause that speaks to you personally and use the internet to discover where your resources and your time would be of use in our very community.  The CCAS website might be  a goodplace to start for some information on social Justice groups in our Catholic community) We need to do more than wring our hands. We need to do more than pray. We need to DO!

Poetic Reflections

How does the following poem from the Rev Ed Ingrebretzen, S.J. capture the care Jesus takes of us in our deepest need?

From Narrow Places

From narrow places
the strength of our voice
rises:

our every breath 
is prayer,
the great poem of need,
a constant scattering
of praise.

Early
we reach to God
in the claim of our hearts,
while he,
our father,
mothers us 
in his

This poem by Thomas Merton seems to reflect how deeply Jesus cares for the fate of each one of us. Nevertheless, we possess free will and sometimes He has to stand by and watch us destroy ourselves and the planet we live on.

Cables to the Ace (Stanza 80)
Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the garden
Speaking to the sacred trees
Their branches bear his light
Without harm

Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the ruins
Seeking the lost disciple
A timid one
Too literate
To believe words
So he hides
Christ rises on the cornfields
It is only the harvest moon
The disciple
Turns over in his sleep
And murmurs:
“My regret!”

The disciple will awaken
When he knows history
But slowly slowly
The Lord of History weeps into the fire.