Homily for Bilingual Cursillo Mass : Bishop Edward Lohse

---

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28

Brothers and sisters, members of the Cursillo family, it’s a great joy to celebrate this Mass with you this afternoon! 

Hermanos y hermanas, miembros de la familia de Cursillos: ¡es una gran alegría celebrar esta Misa con ustedes esta tarde!

The Church presents us with a challenging Gospel passage today. Quite understandably, many people find it troubling. It seems that Jesus is being unkind, some might even say cruel, in his conversation with the Canaanite woman. 

But is there something more going on here than what meets the eye?”

A muchas personas les resulta inquietante el pasaje del Evangelio de hoy.

Pero ¿acaso hay aquí algo más de lo que se percibe a simple vista?

This Gospel takes place in the city of Tyre. It was a pagan city. Ironically, the actual foreigner that day was Jesus, traveling in Gentile lands. The Canaanite woman was at home in her own city. 

Moved by love for her daughter who is suffering, so goes to meet him. Love compels her forward and gives her courage to be bold. She approaches Jesus and, for a Gentile, she does something remarkable: She calls him “Lord”. 

I imagine that she immediately had Jesus’ full attention. I think that, far from being annoyed by her like the apostles were, he was fascinated. He immediately recognized the depth of this woman standing before him, ... a Gentile woman to be sure, but even more so a woman moved by love – and love has denominational boundaries - who calls him "Lord."

Like a professor who suddenly finds himself face-to-face with an exceptional student, I think Jesus was delighted by her. And like a good teacher, he decides to lead this student along so that she will arrive at the answer to her own question. 

Jesus and the woman enter into what is an intense private conversation, almost a playful conversation, like a teacher and student bantering back and forth, ... the teacher asking difficult questions and being delighted with how the student is answering.

With all due respect to the apostles, they are clueless as to what is going on. 

Como un profesor que de repente se encuentra frente a frente con una alumna excepcional, decide guiarla para que ella misma llegue a la respuesta de su propia pregunta.

Jesús y la mujer entablan una conversación... en la que el maestro plantea preguntas difíciles y se deleita con la forma en que la alumna responde.

Once again, this woman calls him “Lord” and this time she bows down before him. He must have thought, “This is remarkable. What faith this woman has, and what amazing courage that love has given to her!”

And then, like a good professor, he throws out a line to see how she will respond. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Although this is jarring to our modern ears, it would not have been surprising coming from a first century rabbi. 

She responds: “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Now, I imagine at this point a huge smile appeared on Jesus’ face, because this woman has just passed her final exam with flying colors. “Bravissima!” he must have said. “You understand God’s mercy better than all of these other disciples standing here. You are truly a daughter of God!” 

Tras su última respuesta, Jesús debió de haber dicho: «¡Bravo! Comprendes la misericordia de Dios mejor que todos los demás discípulos aquí presentes. ¡Eres verdaderamente una hija de Dios!»

This woman knew that there is more than enough of God’s love and compassion on the master’s table for everyone to be fed. No one is left out, not the children of Israel, nor the Gentiles. And she knew that she could find that mercy in Jesus. 

“O woman” he says, “great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish.”

God’s mercy is available to all, and Jesus is the one through whom we receive it. This profound and life-changing truth is at the heart not just of today’s Gospel passage, but of the whole saving work of Christ. 

You have encountered that love powerfully through your experience of Cursillo, and now you want to share it with others. The Canaanite woman’s love for her daughter gave her courage to approach Jesus, and love will make you bold and give you courage to reach out and draw others into the same transforming love that you already know. 

As cursillistas, continue to encounter that love, be transformed by it, and be strengthened by it, ... Don’t just to bask in it; but share it. The first, second and third days of Cursillo should lead to the fourth day. Reunions and Ultreyas are not simply opportunities to remember the graces of Cursillo but to be reignited by them, so that the fire burning within you can draw others toward the light. 

Jesus knew that the heart of the Canaanite woman burned with love for her daughter and for God. May our own hearts be like hers, aflame for love of God and others, so that when our days here on earth are finished, we might hear the same words he once said to her: “Great is your faith! Well done, good and faithful servant!” 

To all of you here today and to all of the cursillistas in the diocese, be assured of my prayers and support. May the Lord continue to bless and inspire you. ¡De colores!