Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I’m never quite sure what to do with Jesus in today’s Gospel. He seems so dismissive of the Canaanite woman’s plea to heal her daughter. Perhaps, like Mary, the Canaanite woman is widening Jesus’ vision for Christ’s mission. While we can’t split Jesus Christ into human parts and divine parts, this perspective helps me a bit.
At the wedding feast at Cana, Mary widens her son’s vision. She crosses from the women’s side of the celebration to the men’s side, crossing a boundary and likely raising some eyebrows, to tell Jesus, “They have no wine.”
He replies, somewhat dismissively, “Woman, what does that have to do with me?” Persistent and compassionate Mary simply goes about the work of telling the servants to fill the jugs with water. She knows her son is Love Incarnate and trusts that his vision will widen; that he will see that this is a moment to be and do Love Incarnate.
Similarly, the Canaanite woman crosses boundaries and raises the disciples' eyebrows, who simply want to dismiss her bothersome presence. Even if Jesus seems a bit dismissive at first, he sees her and engages in dialogue with her. Like Mary, she is persistent. She recognizes that Jesus is the Christ, Love Incarnate, and trusts that Jesus’ vision will widen to match the reality of who he is as the Christ. And Christ declares, “Woman, great is your faith!” Her daughter is healed!
We, the Church, are the Body of Christ. At the Eucharistic table, together, we become the Body of Christ. There is no doubt that we are fully human. And we are called to be and do more than seems possible. Each of us can learn from these strong and persistent women who cross boundaries and widen the vision for what it means to be and do Love Incarnate, to be Christ’s presence here and now.
How might we call one another to widen our vision for Christ’s expansive love in the Church and world? How might we open ourselves to our own vision being widened? How am I the Canaanite woman begging for the vision to be widened? Who is the Canaanite woman begging me, begging us, to widen our vision?
—Kelly Adamson