But he did not say a word in answer to her

7 AUGUST (Mt 15,21-28)

Jesus is the new House of God, his New temple in the world. He is the House of prayer for all peoples. This truth of Jesus must be proclaimed, shouted from the rooftops. Every man has the right to pray Jesus. No one should be denied this right. One commits a grave injustice when he forbids a man to invoke his Saviour, Lord, God, Redeemer, Life, Truth, Way and Grace.

Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the son of man who holds to it; Who keeps the Sabbath free from profanation, and his hand from any evildoing. Let not the foreigner say, when he would join himself to the Lord, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “See, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name Better than sons and daughters; an eternal, imperishable name will I give them. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to him, Loving the name of the Lord, and becoming his servants – All who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, Them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; Their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56,1-7).

This woman is a foreigner for men; on the contrary, for Jesus she is one of his creatures, made by the Father in his image and likeness. She is a foreigner to the apostles, who have not yet entered fully into the mystery of Jesus. She is a foreigner to the other sons of Abraham, who do not know which their original mission was: that of calling every other man to the Lord, making every man become people of God. This was their original vocation, given by God and placed as the basis of his covenant.

Moses went up the mountain to God. Then the Lord called to him and said, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites” (Ex 19,3-6).

Israel is a kingdom of priests and a holy nation because through this ministry it must sanctify the whole world, every man and all the nations. This is its vocation, its mission, its perpetual statute. However, it was failure.

Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

If this woman has the right to be heard by Jesus, who is the Listener of every cry that rises from the earth to God, why does not he address her even a word? He does this because he wants us of a non compliant faith, of unceasing prayer, of strong conviction, of an also rejection and denial proof love. He wants us with a strong, resolute, fighting and insistent heart. The woman wins the test. She gets the grace. She becomes a teacher for all of us in prayer and intercession. So the pagan are teachers of the faith for Christians. We who should be masters for the whole world, we must learn from the pagans. They are our light.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints get to be real teachers for all.