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Greetings, SBT Readers:
I didn't meet the Canaanite woman during the Parliament of the World's Religions (August 14-18th, 2023), but I know she was there. In the throng of Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Sufis, Confucians, Bahai, Zoroastrians, Jains, Wiccans and Christians of all persuasions, she must have been present somewhere. Of course, in a sea of saris, monastic habits, flowing robes, turbans and veils, she would not have stood out as "other"; on the contrary, she would have been an "insider," a member of the one tribe of humanity that we celebrated for five amazing days during which we shared a common mission, a common purpose, and common values.
As at other Parliaments, we gathered to grieve the agony of the world and to work together to create a sustainable future for all peoples. We danced together, sang together, prayed together, cried together, ate together, listened to one another -- not divided by dogma but united in love as we addressed our theme, “A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights.” It was inspirational to hear what is already being accomplished across the globe -- peace initiatives bridging differences between Palestinians and Jews in the Holy Land; sea conservation; the training of teenagers for interfaith leadership; forest protection and restoration; faith-inspired forgiveness or reconciliation; dialogue between Buddhists and Catholics; advocacy on behalf of oppressed minorities; an inter-faith visit to Ukraine to express solidarity with the people; the literal converting of guns into tools; a global movement of interreligious friendship; contemplative practices to counter the destructive forces at play in our world...
Many of the presentations -- my own included-- focused on climate change and its devastating impact on humanity. Entitled Lazarus and the Rich Man: Archetypes of Agony and Entitlement, my presentation explored the connection between environmental catastrophe and the "cloning" of the Lazaruses of this world. Using the backdrop of The Global Ethic and Pope Francis' Laudato Si', I invited participants to see their own patterns of entitlement and to consider more sustainable life choices. Unfortunately, the session was not taped, but I am willing to share my thoughts/ PowerPoint via a Zoom presentation on Friday, September 1st, at 10:00 a.m., CST/ 11:00 a.m. EST. If you are interested, please send me an email or contact me via my website, www.elizabeth-annestewart.com, before August 29th so I can send you the link. Of course, there is no charge, and wherever you are in the world, you would be welcome to join me.
Many Blessings!
Elizabeth
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to the Sunday Readings
Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and
a Canaanite woman from that district came to him, crying out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is possessed by a demon."
Jesus did not say a word, so his disciples urged him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He answered,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and paid Jesus 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, even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.
Mt 15:21-28
The Canaanite woman may be nameless but she has both guts and determination. Undeterred by the disciples' disrespect, she approaches Jesus directly, no longer attempting to use any intermediaries on her behalf. Driven by her love for her daughter and by the conviction that Jesus has the power to heal, she throws herself at his feet; even when he seems unresponsive, she persists in her entreaties. For his part, Jesus asserts that his mission is to the "lost sheep of Israel" --in other words, to Jews only. To a contemporary audience, his words about throwing food to the dogs are shocking-- so much so that some commentators doubt the authenticity of the text. But while it is difficult to reconcile our traditional images of Jesus with the Jesus in this encounter, the Jerome Biblical Commentary offers a different lens: in the first place, the Canaanite woman belongs to an ethnic group that in the Hebrew Scriptures is "a sinful race that embodies all that is wicked and godless, the race that is to be exterminated" (43:107-108)-- hence the disciples' disdain. But Jesus himself engages in what could be described as playful banter with her: "The dialogue is an instance of the kind of wit that was and is admired in the Near East, the same wit that is called wisdom in the OT; it is the ability to match riddle with riddle, to cap one wise saying with another, to match insult with insult, or--as here-- to turn the insult into a commitment." This kind of interaction, then, suggests that Jesus is open to exploring whether the Canaanite woman -- and, by extension, other Gentiles-- could be included in his mission. He listens and she wins her case, partly because of her wit and partly because of her faith.
Unlike his disciples, Jesus SEES the Canaanite woman and responds to her with compassion, just as he includes the Roman centurion, the Samaritan leper and the Samaritan woman in his mission of healing. In Mt 21:43, he goes one step further and says that the kingdom of God will be "given to a people that will produce its fruit" -- in other words, to the Gentiles. Instead of seeing those of other ethnicities as "other," he, in fact, praises their faith; moreover, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he indicates that those who are perceived to be ungodly outsiders may, in fact, have a greater capacity for goodness than those who consider themselves to be righteous.
The story challenges us to see the "differing other" as a manifestation of God's presence. If we are made in the image and likeness of God, so is the "differing other"; if we have a right to God's unconditional love and mercy, so does the "differing other." And if we dare call God our Father/Mother, so, too, the "differing other" is also God's beloved creation. At the Parliament, each of us was surrounded by "differing others" -- some in magnificent attire and others in garb that can only be described as "strange." Surrounded by diversity of every kind, there were two options: either to stay with one's own kind or to expand one's vision so that everyone was "kin." Happily, in daring to share our sacred stories, we discovered more in common than we could possibly have imagined...
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