Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 409


They told Moses: "We went into the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. However, the people who are living in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan."


When Moses and Aaron led the Hebrews out of the Sinai peninsula into "the promised land" they found it occupied, settled and prospering under the natives. Just as Spaniards found the Caribbean and Mexico; and European settlers found New England and North America. They might believe God gave this land to us but their "right" depended upon military "might" to make it so. 

Irredentism is the belief that a certain territory belongs to a certain people. They claim ancestral rights to it even if they don't live there anymore. Shakespeare's Henry V declared he would reclaim the Englishman's part of France,  

Now are we well resolved;  and, by God's help, And yours, the noble sinews of our power, France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe...         

The French claimed ownership of Alsace-Lorraine, which led in part to the First World War. Native Americans have claims to many territories in the United States; and, of course, Jews to Israel. Like Henry V, irredentists believe God will support their right. It is essentially a religious doctrine. 

If the belief had spawned only innumerable wars we might live with it, but it also inspires the continuing violence of racism, nativism, segregation, and prejudice. The conquered people often remain in their ancient land despite diasporas and trails of tears, and the oppression of newcomers. Eventually -- given the irresistible power of human sexuality -- the races mingle and claims of both sides are muddled. 
Irredentism appears in today's scriptures readings. First, we learn of the Hebrews' reconnoitering the land God will give them. (You remember Pat Boone's song from the movie Exodus, "This land is mine, God gave this land to me.")
Secondly, we hear of Jesus' encounter with "a Canaanite woman of that district." (The Canaanites were there long before the Jews or Philistines.) Today's gospel offers Jesus' kindness as a resolution to this ancient and universal conflict. First we see the Jewish attitude toward Canaanites: arrogant, sneering, humiliating. It's embarrassing to read even two thousand years later. 
And it offers a process of reconciliation: when the woman will not back down the honest man recognizes the rotten attitude he has inherited from his own religious tradition. 
This an unpleasant story with a happy ending for anyone willing to recognize the racism of our ancestors. There are no exceptions to this sinful heritage; even the Son of Mary suffers the affliction. But when confronted face to face by a stranger, the good person readily, willingly repents and accepts the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
Today, in the age of the Internet, social media, and polarization, strangers confront us daily, continually. The stench of prejudice penetrates our homes, churches, work places, schools, and parks. We are steeped in fear of other people. There has never been a better moment to welcome the Holy Spirit whose wisdom is ever ancient, ever new.