Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 332

Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

I love this story of the "Greek" woman. In this case, Greek means pagan. The Syrophoenician woman may have known enough Greek to approach strangers, for it was the language of the Roman empire. But the point is, "She is not one of us." She lived in the district of Tyre, "gentile territory;" and had neither knowledge of the Jewish religion nor claim upon a Jewish messiah. In every way, an outsider.

Like people everywhere, Jewish people of Jesus' day tended to avoid outsiders. I was a pastor of a church in a small city in Louisiana, with two other Catholic churches in town. Once a year the three pastors would gather their parish councils for a meal and confab. But, unless we assigned seats, every parishioner sat beside and across from their fellow parishioners -- usually grouped on different tables. It was not a big city; they knew each, but still didn't mix.

Jesus and disciples had similar feelings about a Syrophoenician woman. They will deal with her if they have to, but they'd rather not.

This particular woman had other plans. She had heard Jesus heals and she was desperate for her daughter. So she charged into the house where the weary Jesus had sought a bit of R&R; threw herself at his feet, and begged for a healing.

Recently, Pope Francis caused a stir as he greeted a large crowd of people. One woman grabbed the 83-year-old pontiff's hand as he was turning away, and yanked him back. He snapped at her -- in front of the crowd and the TV cameras! And then apologized to the whole world for his instantaneous reaction. Who could blame him?

Likewise, who could blame the exhausted Jesus for snapping at this alien woman?

But again, she will not be put off. To his insulting remark she makes a clever retort.

With that he remembers his mission to the whole world. As Isaiah the Prophet said,

It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth

This wonderful, awful woman represents the Other, that person and those people who are not like Us. The doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father; and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. Despite their being of one substance, and the work of one is the work of all, they are other to each other. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and the crowd heard the voice of the Father, that was not Jesus performing an act of ventriloquism! He received the Holy Spirit as a gift from his Father, not as a "gift one gives oneself."

Many people today go to the Internet to hear, see, and agree with themselves. Their favorite web sites and e-zines are echo chambers of their own opinions. They do not meet the Other; and they suspect the Other doesn't really exist. Or if they do, they shouldn't.

We go to Church to meet the Other. First, the God who is our Savior and makes certain demands of us. Secondly, the neighbor who worships with us but has different political and philosophical beliefs. Finally, the stranger who seeks God among God's people, "the Syrophoenician woman." If we fail to meet the Other, we have failed ourselves, and the visit to the Church was pointless. We were simply imitating the Pharisee who stood in the front of the temple and prayed to himself.

Jesus met and blessed the Other. He insists that his disciples must do the same.