Things to talk about:

• Why is it true that when you really want or need something, it matters how you ask for it?
• Share a time when you prayed about something you really wanted/needed.
• Why does Jesus help the woman in today’s Gospel?
• What does this Gospel teach us about faith?

Things to do:

• Turn a wall into a prayer wall with sticky notes. Have each family member write their prayer intentions on sticky notes and put them on the wall.
• The Canaanite woman’s plea to Jesus was, “Have pity (or mercy) on me, Lord.” During Mass, we sing or say a prayer with similar words. Which prayer is it? Listen for it at Mass this weekend.
• Mercy is the disposition to be kind and forgiving. Be intentional about extending mercy to at least one person this week.
• August 22 is the Feast of The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To learn more about this feast day, visit https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/queenship-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

Closing Prayer

Hail Holy Queen

Learn the traditional Catholic Marian hymn, “Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above” to celebrate the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 22.

Pray together the Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.  

Name anyone who needs prayer, reply, “Lord, hear our prayers.”  Close with the Sign of the Cross.     

Catholic Insight

This Gospel story often puzzles us because of what sounds like a disrespectful and harsh reply from Jesus to a woman’s plea for help. Some find it troubling because it suggests that Jesus wasn’t perfect, and a woman had to help him learn something new and change his mind. The story makes more sense if we understand more about the Jewish context Jesus was living in during his day.

A strong streak of teaching in the Old Testament instructed Jews to keep themselves separate from non-Jews so that they wouldn’t be tempted to stray from their worship of Yahweh to other gods. They weren’t supposed to marry anyone outside of their faith to help maintain their Jewish purity. They were proud to be God’s “chosen people,” and it was a short move from believing themselves to be the chosen ones to relegating others to being less-than because they weren’t chosen.

According to Matthew, Jesus understood his mission as only being to Jews. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24). When the Canaanite woman, who was not Jewish, showed such faith in him and recognized him as the Lord, Son of David, Jesus had a revelation. His understanding of himself and his mission expands to those beyond Judaism. It was as if a light went on, and he remembered that there are also passages in the Old Testament in which God tells the people that he is for everyone. Yes, Jesus was divine, but he was human too, and just like any human, his understanding grew and matured over time. In this case, it was a foreigner, and a woman, who helped him become who he was meant to be.