Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dominica XX per Annum A
16 August 2026

 The Gospel passage is a bit unsettling for us because the Lord seems distant and rude, and even offensive toward the woman who calls out to him. There is debate about whether the term “dog” in reference to the Canaanite woman was offensive in ancient language. Some scholars suggest the Lord was using a diminutive form of the term, in other words something like “little pups”. But whatever the case, the woman herself does not seem to be offended. She also does not leave as if she understands herself to be rejected. And the Lord, for however strange his behavior seems to us, does not dismiss her or send her away either, even when his disciples do want her sent away. Since the woman does not act offended or abandoned, I’m going to set aside the odd sounding term “dog” and focus on a more important lesson for us.

The Scripture selection in the first reading and the Gospel shows us that there is a proper order in the offer of salvation. First, the offer comes to God’s chosen people and then, after them, when the New Covenant has been established by the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the offer of salvation is extended more broadly beyond the Jewish people to Gentile foreigners. Just as it is not proper for someone to take food intended for the family and to give it to the dogs first, likewise in salvation. The children are fed first and then others. A good parent knows to feed the children first and then the pets.

In the Gospel, Jesus is in Gentile pagan territory, where in his time remnants of the northern tribes of Israel were still present. The Canaanites, of whom the woman in the Gospel is a part, were the most immersed in immorality and among the most pagan, worshipping false gods and even sacrificing their children to demons.  And they frequently meddled with Israel’s peace by waging war.  The Gospel detail about Jesus’ location is screaming loud and clear: If there ever was a foreigner outside of God’s salvation, she is it!

The woman calls out to Jesus, “Have pity on me, Lord”! Her words in the original Greek of the New Testament should sound familiar to us: “Eleison me, Kurie”! That request for mercy and others like it in the Bible are directly used in the Mass when we call to mind our sins using the Greek phrase, “Kyrie, eleison.” “Lord, have mercy”. At first, Jesus ignores her and remains silent. His disciples want to send the woman away. No doubt she was creating an uncomfortable commotion by crying out. The woman would have overheard Jesus’ response to the disciples that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. A second time the woman makes her request. This time she kneels or prostrates herself before him in an act of worship. This time the Lord uses the offensive sounding word and says it is not right to take the food away from the children before they have eaten. Finally, a third time the woman makes her request, “Please, Lord”. No matter how curious the Lord might seem to us in this passage and how much we might wonder at the term “dog” there is a lesson here for us in persistent, humble faith.

No doubt in our encounters with the Lord there are plenty of times when his presence and behavior, when his ways seem mysterious and inexplicable to us. How many times during our prayer life do we wonder about what the Lord is doing? How many times do our prayers seem to be met with silence? And how often do we interpret that silence as a sign that God is far or that He does not care? How often might we call out in times of desperation and feel that the Lord’s attention and kindness are turned toward someone else’s needs? To borrow the curious Gospel image, in the difficulties of prayer maybe we want to say, “Lord, if you’d just do something, even call me a ‘dog’, at least I’d know you are there.” The woman is persistent in her request and in her coming to Jesus.  She is humble in kneeling before him.  She has faith and does not question his ability to do what her daughter needs.  She is an example to us all. How? She stays in the relationship with the Lord and does her part, even when she doesn’t get the answer she wants. And she has a real relationship with him. He is not a vending machine for her needs, getting her attention only when she gets what she wants and then leaving him behind. She is there when he is silent and seems to ignore her. She stays there when his mission is focused on others first. She keeps calling out when his response is curious and a bit inexplicable. She is an example to us to do the same and thereby to demonstrate a great faith.

And the good news in the mysterious life of prayer is that we are not foreigners outside the covenant. We are not dogs, or if you want the cuter interpretation, we are not pups. By faith, by baptism and by striving to live our relationship with the Lord we are the very children he desires to feed and nourish with the best of his gifts. And this ties us to the importance of our commitment to Holy Mass on the Lord’s Day. Here we come to the table of the Master. Here the Master himself provides his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. We are not thrown scraps. The whole gift of the Lord is lovingly and reverently brought to us. When we worthily receive it, the Lord is not far from us and our needs but makes himself present within us.