In the encounters with the Pharisees or the Scribes, Jesus has never condemned the dietary laws per se. Instead He was criticising the assumption that mere ritual purity equates to being at right with God. A ritually clean person is not the same as an upright person. The laws governing ritual purity provide the backdrop to appreciate the context and the content of the dialogue between the Canaanite woman and Jesus. While it may rattle our polite sensitivity, we need to looking beyond rudeness or even exclusion to understand why this conversation had to take place. Last week, we hear Peter making the confession that Christ is the Son of God. Today this excluded woman also confesses the true identity of Jesus. She is the one who gives us the “Kyrie, eleison”. Lord have mercy.
Matthew’s audience is the Jewish people but through this meeting between Jesus and the woman, the boundary is extended beyond the limits of Judaism. In fact, the 1st Reading confirms that no longer will ethnicity determine one’s affiliation. Instead, those who attach themselves to the Lord will be called His sons and daughters. St Paul calls himself an apostle of the pagans for good reason. He is sent to those outside Judaism in order to inspire those chosen to remember their original blessing and perhaps to be more careful with their inheritance as God’s chosen people.
Today’s encounter shows us that salvation did indeed come from the Jews but it is not limited to them. The universal salvation of Christ is extended to the entire world but the reality of religious pluralism makes the statement that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world a challenge to navigate. The current respect for diversity may have forced theologians to relativise salvation in the sense that it is possible to claim that Jesus saves us but maybe only within the confines of Christianity.
There is indeed a task ahead. If Christ’s salvation is restricted to Christians, then the Church is no longer the instrument of salvation. If Jesus Christ were not the Saviour of the world, then effectively, the Church suffers from an identity crisis. She exists solely to proclaim that salvation comes from Christ alone and if she is prevented from her mission or not needed for that, then the temptation is to make herself relevant to the world and the world’s powers that be. She was not born to transform the world. She was not instituted to make the world a better place even though changing the world is important. A changed world is the fruit of conversion, that is, it is a by-product of being converted to the salvation of Jesus Christ. A good example would be the hospital system which the Church gave to the world. Hospitality grew out of Matthew 25: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you did it to me”. Yet, that should never be confused as the “goal” of the Church.
Jesus is the Saviour for which the Church exists to proclaim. Otherwise, it does not make sense that there is a Church. This mission today in the face of diversity must therefore emulate the humility of the Canaanite woman. In the face of these great religions, the Church can copy the example of the same woman in her spirit of humility by respecting what others believe in. What the Church can never settle for is anything less than the central truth of salvation clearly affirmed by Peter: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
In a sense, diversity and the requirement of inclusivity makes the scope of evangelisation almost impossible. One of the phenomena observed during the WYD pilgrimage was how slogans were worn proudly proclaiming our faith in Jesus Christ. The context is important as many of the countries once known to be Christian lands are now filled with empty Churches where people are nominally Christians or not at all. The locals might see us wearing those tee-shirts but detect no difference in our behaviour. Although the WYD did have a positive impact on the economy of Lisbon, the sad reality was that unwittingly some pilgrims by their behaviour, may have contributed to people turning away from Christ. It is an effect attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: I like your Christ but not your Christianity.
An expression like Gandhi’s scepticism stops us in our tracks and challenges us to match our behaviour with our proclamation. More than ever, our actions must speak louder so that other may recognise in them that Jesus is truly the Saviour and Lord of our lives. To propose Christ to the world, He must be our beginning, our life and guide, our hope and our end. The two great Sacraments, namely the Eucharist and Confession, are means to forge our lives according to this purpose of professing Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
The universality of Jesus as the Saviour of the world is not limited by the scope of our proclamation. Just because we do not proclaim Him it does not imply that He is not the Saviour. He is and He will always be. However, the universal reception of Jesus as Saviour of the world can be hampered by our inability to live the joy of salvation which He has won for us. In other words, He is Saviour no matter what. But He is not received as Saviour because we have not been received as Christians (like Gandhi rejecting us) or more likely, we have not been convincing enough in witnessing to the joy of His salvation. There is a world hungering for Christ and His Gospel. The challenge we face is to embrace fully the joy of salvation and be radiantly alive with the light of the Gospel.
