Even the Scraps are Enough!

Something wonderful and extraordinary happens in today’s Gospel between the Canaanite woman and Jesus.  Her prayer is both spoken from the heart and a prayer that is rooted in perseverance.  Jesus shows incredible tenderness on His part, even though it seems that He is being rough or even rude.

The Canaanite woman is not a Jew, Jesus’ ministry first and foremost is to the Jewish people, though from time to time He extended that ministry to include foreigners as was the case with the Centurion and the Samaritan woman at the well, all three, including the Canaanite woman, show incredible faith and perseverance.  When she cries out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is tormented by a demon.”  Jesus makes no response, it seems as though He is ignoring her.  The woman does not give up and the Apostles fed up with her persistence ask Jesus to send her away.

But this woman, she’s not going anywhere.  Jesus tells her He has come for the people of Israel.  She continues to offer Him homage and cries out, “Lord, help me.”  Jesus in what seems a harsh reply tells her, “It is not right to take the food of the children and feed it to the dogs.”  The woman is witty and replies, “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”  Wow, what a response.

Jesus’ response is not harsh, He is not referring to wild dogs or calling the woman an animal, He is referring to house pets, more like “puppies.”  The woman is willing to lower herself to that of a puppy because even the scraps that fall from Jesus will be enough for her.  Jesus is tender towards her because He shows His great love in and that He does not give up on her, but stays engaged in the prayer right along with her.  At the end He is moved because of her great humility and rewards her with, “O woman, great is your faith; let it be done to you as you wish.” 

The whole scene is a prayer.  It is a scene from scripture that should give us encouragement in our own prayers.  When we pray we usually pray set prayers, i.e. Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s.  Beautiful prayers indeed and they help us in our reflections on God, life, and holiness.  However, there are those prayers from the heart in which we like the Canaanite woman cry out, “Lord, help me.”

The question for us becomes, how do we handle it when God says, “no,” or if He says, “wait,” or if He remains silent?  At first Jesus says, “No” to this woman or at least it seems like a no.  Jesus being Divine knew the outcome before the conversation finished.  Yet, like a good parent would He does not close the discussion completely, He allows her to continue, maybe God desires the same of us, that we pour out our hearts to Him in prayer and that we do not give up so easily.  The answer from God maybe a “no” or “wait,” but it will never be “you can no longer talk to me” type of answer.  It is in that wrestling with God in conversation, which we call prayer that our faith is strengthened and blessed.

The woman was willing to eat scraps and that was enough for her, would it be enough for us.  Am I willing to eat the scraps that fall from the Master’s table or do I want more than scraps, do I expect and demand more, something to think about.  A final reflection for us is, how bad do we desire that Jesus tells us, “Great is your faith.”  That answer will only come when I am willing to sit at the Master’s feet and humble myself and that I do not quit, but keep asking for His blessings, because even if they are just the scraps, that will be enough.  Amen.