Woman, great is your faith

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

At the end of last week’s gospel the apostles make a declaration of faith and they proclaim Jesus as the Son of God. Today’s Gospel narrates an occasion in which we encounter another act of faith, this time however, not from someone who knew Jesus. Moreover, this person was not even a Jew. Today’s Gospel may confuse us at first because when the Canaanite woman asks for help, Jesus initially ignores her and he does not reply. This woman made her plea for help in a loud voice. She was attracting attention so much so that the apostles wanted Jesus to get rid of her. The woman continued with her cry for help and Jesus replied. However, Jesus’ reply is somewhat surprising. He uses the word ‘dogs.’ This was how the Jews referred to the gentiles. The Jews considered themselves as the sons of Abraham and the pagans (gentiles) were spoken of as the “dogs” (or pets) of the family. Only the sons of the family had a right to eat the bread and not the dogs. The woman however persisted. She understood and accepted Jesus’ reference, and humbly continued with her plea. In faith she replied that the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs that fall from the table. In virtue of her faith, Jesus granted her wish, and her daughter was healed.

Jesus’ words may shock us. However, we have to remember that we are reading from the Gospel according to Matthew. This gospel is addressed primarily to a Jewish audience. Jews believed that the Messiah would save them because they were the chosen people. It was not accepted that salvation was for all. So the apostles, who were Jewish, did not want Jesus to help this woman. The woman, however, acknowledged the fact that Jews had a right to God’s mercy, but she also believed that God’s mercy was abundant and overflowing.

This reading highlights the fact that we need not to give up and continue believing in God’s mercy, which is abundant and given to all. This reading also touches our conscience. It could be that like the apostles we are sometimes quick to judge. The apostles wanted Jesus to get rid of this loud mouthed Canaanite woman. There may have been times when we also looked the other way and ignored those who needed our attention, maybe they wanted to hear some words of comfort or encouragement, or simply our companionship. How many times did we judge others because they were insistent in their pleas?

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 15, 21-28)

At that time, Jesus 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 Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. 
Jesus’ 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 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, 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 the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and how do they affect you now?
  3. Did you ever feel that Jesus is not listening to your prayers? Did you continue to pray in humility or did you give up?
  4. Do you believe that Jesus hears your prayers?
  5. Where there times when you did not offer help because of the way you judged others?
  6. Together with your family find the right time to read this gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare:
    a) The Bible reading from St Matthew (14, 22-33)
    b) A lit candle
    c) Cover the table with green cloth
    d) A computer/laptop with the reading and clips
  7. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested)
  8. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  9. Be creative 😊
  10. Go to the Prayer Corner section to continue praying as a family

In today’s Gospel we will meet with a woman, whom you will surely understand!

We will learn

  • Jesus wants us to believe that God listens to our prayers
  • When we pray, we lift up our needs and those of others to God

We need:

  • Cardboard
  • Colours
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Single punch
  • Ribbon

Did you understand what the woman wanted? She wanted Jesus to heal her daughter but at first, Jesus ignored her and it was as if he did not want to help her! Was there ever a time when you wanted something, a toy or something that your friends had and you did not? What did you do? (give time for the children to answer)

If the person you asked replied in the negative, what did you do? You accepted it and you simply did not get what you wanted? (allow the children to reply)

This woman did not give up but she continued to insist with Jesus, because she knew that what she was asking for, was good and that Jesus could give her what she was asking for: her daughter’s healing.

We ask:

Did you expect Jesus not to help this woman from the very beginning?

When the woman continued to ask Jesus’ help, was the daughter healed?

Jesus praises this woman for her faith. What is faith? Do you remember? (faith is trust)

This woman teaches us how we should pray. When we pray, Jesus always hears us. He wants us to believe that he is hearing our prayers. He wants us to pay attention when we are praying, and asks us not to be distracted. Jesus wants us to understand that although he always listens to our prayers he does not always give us what we want. There are times in which we receive what we pray for, but perhaps not instantly. We need to trust God patiently. Furthermore, Jesus wants us to pray for others and not only for ourselves.

There may be times when we do not know for whom we will pray. Today’s activity will help us remember!

Trace the children’s hand on the cardboard for six times. Cut them out and put them on top of each other. Punch a hole in one of the corners.

On the first one help the children to write: Today I will pray for …

The second one: the children colour the thumb and on the palm of the hand they draw people they love (family, friends). We can help them write: I pray for those whom I love.

Third cut out: they colour the pointer finger and draw people who teach them (teachers, catechists, priests). Again we can help them to write: I pray for those who teach and help me.

The fourth one: they colour the index finger and draw persons of responsibility and authority (Pope Francis, leaders of the country, head teachers, police). The write, I pray for those who have authority or lead others.

The fifth one: they colour the ring finger. This finger is considered as the weakest one. So it reminds us to pray for the sick and poor. They draw these people and write: I pray for the sick and poor.

The sixth one: they colour the pinkie (smallest) finger. They draw themselves and write: I pray for myself.

When they are ready, we put the hands on top of each other and tie them with the ribbon, do not make the ribbon too tight, so the children are able to turn the hands as if a book. They may leave these hands near their bed so that before they sleep they choose for whom they will pray.During this activity we can listen to: He’s got the whole world in his hands, because God takes care of everyone, everywhere.

As part of the prayer, everyone chooses one of the hands and prays for the people mentioned.

Today we need to be very attentive to the reading because we will require extra attention to understand it well.

We will learn that

  • God loves everyone
  • Jesus died on the cross to save everyone
  • We are responsible to tell others the Good News
  • God loves to hear our prayers

We need:

  • Packets of sweets for all those present, or it could be something else, as long as it can be shared out
  • Cardboard paper
  • Pencil

We give out packets of sweets, however we do not give them to everyone, that is, if for example we are four in the group, we give the sweets to two and not to the others (we do not give sweets to the children).

We ask those who did not get the sweets:

How does it feel to be left out?

In today’s Gospel the woman was from Canaan. She was not a Jew as Jesus and the apostles were. She was a pagan. The Jews believed that God would only save them, so they did not befriend the pagans. This woman had a daughter who was possessed by the devil and she wanted Jesus to heal her. The way Jesus replied, made her feel in a way in which some among you are feeling. Some did not receive sweets, while others did. She felt the same, Jesus helped others but not her. Nnonetheless, she continued to ask for Jesus’ help.

You understand very well what it means to continue asking for something. Try to remember when you wanted something, a game, clothes, to go out with friends or to go to their house for a sleep over. You asked your mother and she said no. What did you do? You accepted her reply? Or did you continue to ask, maybe you even asked your father or grandma or your brothers to try to help you change her mind. This is what the woman does. She continues to ask Jesus, because she believed that she was right in asking Jesus to heal her daughter.

This Gospel has been written many, many years ago. The Jews believed that they were God’s chosen people and that only they would be saved. It is true that they were the Chosen People, however God chose them so that they would share the Good News with others, so that others, precisely the pagans, would be saved as well.

Those who received the sweets, did not receive only one sweet, but a whole packet. They have a choice. They can keep the whole packet for themselves, and they would be doing like those Jews who believed that only they would be saved. On the other hand, they can share it with those who have no sweets, and they would be doing what God wanted the Jews to do, to share the Good News with others.

Now, those who were not given sweets are given the remaining packets. While we distribute the packets we say “Jesus came so that all of us are saved. We were chosen by him. God is trusting us so that we now tell others about him. God wants us to be of a good example for others.”

This reading also teaches us that God wants us to go to him with our needs. This woman asked Jesus for help and we should do the same. She prayed for her daughter. We call this, petition prayer. There are four other main forms of prayer.

The five forms of prayer:

  • Prayer of praise
  • Prayer of thanksgiving
  • Prayer for forgiveness
  • Petition or intercessory prayer
  • Prayer for personal needs

Trace the children’s hand on the cardboard and cut it out. On each finger let them write one type of prayer. The children may want to colour and decorate this hand cut-out. Leave it near their beds so that they can use one or more of these forms of prayer before they sleep. Whilst doing this activity listen to Never give up. It will help us remember not to give up like the Canaanite woman, we should always turn to God in our needs.

As part of the prayer, everyone chooses one form of prayer (if the group is less than five, someone can choose more than one).

This may be used as a guide:

Prayer of praise – we praise God for his help, love, creation
Prayer of thanksgiving – we thank God for something that happened today
Prayers for forgiveness – I say sorry for something I did (be specific, for example, Lord this morning my sister was teasing me and I hit her, I am sorry, I ask to be forgiven)
Prayers of petition – we pray for the needs of others
Prayer for personal needs – again we need to be specific, for example, Lord I need you to help me stop lying.

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.