20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A (2026)

In today’s Gospel, we hear a rather curious encounter. Jesus is confronted by a non-Jew, who apparently, had heard of his reputation as a healer and exorcist. She pleaded with him: “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." Let this be a reminder to us that demons actually exist and no amount of sophisticated, modern thinking renders them extinct.

Despite her clear request, Jesus seems to simply ignore her. Kind of rude, we might think. But then, her persistent request annoyed the disciples to the point of wanting to get rid of her, prompting Jesus to finally respond that he had no interest in granting her request. Again, kind of cold-hearted of Jesus, right? But it elicited a clever comeback from her.

I should point out that this meeting between Jesus and the gentile woman is one of the only two occasions in the Gospels where Jesus lost an argument. He never lost an argument to any man, but twice he lost an argument to a woman. The other example was at the wedding at Cana, when they ran out of wine and as we know, Mary’s response put him into action.^[1]

In this case he had offered an argument to a woman explaining why he did not intend to grant her request: ”I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel…it‘s not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs”.

If ignoring her had been rude, this was worse. He was deliberately insulting her, implying that she was a dog. But it’s important for us to understand that he was testing her faith. I‘ve heard it said that sometimes a teacher will intentionally take a position, to see if a student will respond and refute that position, to see if they will accept the challenge.^[2]

Rather than losing her cool and storming-off in anger, the woman accepted the challenge, responding to Jesus. We can imagine she maintained a controlled and non-threatening voice, accompanied by a gesture of reverence.

Her clever response was like saying, “I humbly accept your opinion, that we Gentiles are like dogs, while you Jews are God's chosen children. But that’s my point, my Lord, because even dogs eat scraps from their master's table, if their master is a loving master, as you are. Therefore, please, for the love of my daughter, heal her”.^[3]

Jesus, the teacher, was willing to lose this argument, and I can imagine that doing so pleased him. It resulted in everyone getting what they needed:

• The woman needed a miracle from Jesus to satisfy her love for her daughter.

• The daughter needed exorcism.

• The demon needed to go back to hell where he belonged.

• The disciples needed a lesson in broadness and humility versus narrowness and pride.

• The world needed to see Jesus’ love, wisdom and power.^[4]

The parent advocated on her child’s behalf, for something that she knew, only Jesus could provide. For parents, it’s something to consider. I never doubt how much our parents love their children. I also don’t doubt that our parents pray for their children—advocating for them to Jesus.

But parents, ask yourselves: Do you believe that there is something essential that only Jesus can provide your children? If so, then what is that “something essential”? Consider this: Are the more profound yearnings in your heart for your son or daughter, more about their worldly successes, and happiness as the world defines it?

The mother in today’s Gospel knew that if she got close to Jesus, she could better advocate for what her child truly needed. As parents, if your primary job as a parent is to get for your child something that only Jesus can provide, maybe it is only attained, to the extent that you get close to Jesus, as an exercise of your faith.

Jesus praised the woman for her faith. Faith is necessary, but faith alone is not sufficient, just as an open hand and an open heart are necessary to receive a gift but are not sufficient. You still need one who would give the gift.

The woman had faith, but it was Jesus who brought healing. Faith alone does not generate healing any more than a faucet generates the water. Instead, faith is the faucet that opens itself to the water. Let us approach Jesus in faith, knowing that he is the living water. Even more, he is an infinite ocean of what we need, and what our children ultimately need.^[5]

^[1] Kreeft, Peter. Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings (Cycle A) (Food for the Soul Series Book 1). Kindle Edition.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Ibid.