Objectivity and humility

 Today’s gospel gives us a challenge from the modern perspective. Here is our Lord, goodness and kindness itself, meek and humble of heart, referring to non-Jews as dogs! In the end, of course, He grants the Syrophoenician woman her request, and her daughter is feed of an evil spirit. Nevertheless, it is not an easy path, requiring two essential qualities of her: objectivity and humility. Really, they go together.

She is objective first. In answer to Our Lord’s rejoinder that the food of the children is not given to dogs, she concedes that she belongs to the latter category. She is not part of the chosen race; literally, she is not of the elect – elect from the Latin ‘eligere’ to choose. She recognises in other words her distance from God who is preparing the coming of the Messiah through the education of the Jews. Perhaps here is the first lesson of this reading: that we all need to recognise who we are and where we are. That does not mean self-hating abasement, but joyous objectivity. And objectivity requires truth about our own situation. When the saints profess their unworthiness, it is not some ridiculous act of hyperbole. It is a breaking forth of objectivity and a recognition of their distance from God who is radically Other in His being.

But then the woman’s objectivity leads her to humility, and a humility which is insightful, not to say playful. Taking hold of the metaphor that Jesus Himself has used, she reminds Him that even the dogs are allowed the crumbs of the table. Her objectivity has opened not only her eyes but also now her heart, because in extending His metaphor, she is in fact appealing for mercy, heart to heart. Having recognised who she is, she is now recognising who He is. In a certain sense, she surrenders to Him, relying only now on His goodness for the answer to her prayer. And so, it is granted.

She is one of the unbelievers of the gospel who is blessed by Our Lord’s benevolence, which likewise extended to the Magi of Bethlehem, as well as the Centurion whose servant is healed. There is a sign in this encounter that God’s blessings are about to be extended from the chosen race of the Jews to all the nations around them. To receive those blessings, however, it is not enough simply to draw breath as a member of the human race. A degree of objectivity and humility is required.