August 16, 2026, at Saint Peter the Apostle & Saint William Churchs in Naples, FL
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7 + Psalm 67 + Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32 + Matthew 15: 21-28
If anyone here has not responded impatiently to an interruption when trying concentrate on something important, I want to know who you are, and I will see to it that the process for your canonization begins now. An interruption, that is what is going on here on the surface. Jesus and the disciples are out in foreign territory fairly far from home. This region called Tyre and Sidon is not particularly friendly. It is not Jewish territory. On top of that, nowhere did women approach and speak to men, especially foreign men. This setting is about interruptions and a lot more. With this story, Matthew raises a lot of questions we might ponder.
This woman is not one of the family. So, does she do without help until the family is taken care of? Does Jesus really believe that his mission is only to the “House of Israel?” Why does Matthew tell us that Jesus was silent at first? Is he trying to decide what to do? He has already scolded the Pharisees for excluding people. Then, how did she know Jesus and know that he would help her? You may have even more questions all of which can distract us from what is happening and what Matthew would say to us.
What happens here is that a silent Jesus reflects on his mission and in the face of this need changes his mind. I like to imagine that this woman is really God the Father interrupting Jesus who at first had a narrow sense of his mission opening it wider making it totally inclusive. What happens here for us is a chance to see how God can interrupt our busy lives and speak through encounters with strangers and in situations outside our comfort zone. Disciples of Jesus learn and grow when they brush up against people whose lives, needs, dreams, and struggles are different from their own.
In our deeply polarized society, people of different political views, economic conditions, ethnic backgrounds or religious convictions are demonized and dismissed. Matthew speaks to us about this. In a society like this, it is easy to decide who should be excluded from the circle of God’s love or our own. Yet no one can limit the grace of God.
With all of this in mind, we can’t leave these verses without some recognition of this mother’s passionate love for her sick child. She risks scorn and probably more for speaking up and begging. She comes before us like anyone in great need. Rather than sending them away, we must be one with them. This woman and everyone in need, longs for and hopes for advocates who will do something and say something to help. Advocacy is part of a Disciples’ role. We do bear one another’s burdens, feel and share the pain of those who are in distress, and while we join our prayers to theirs so that the Son of David will see our faith, we also join our voices to theirs so that one voice becomes many with the hope that through grace and faith we may hear those words that began this new creation: “Let it be done.”