"Have pity on my Lord, son of David!"

by Fr. Jerome Cayetano  |  08/16/2026  |  The WORD in other words

Fr. Flor McCarthy, SDB, the author of New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies has this cool story to share with us: “Once a severe winter took place in the Arctic; all but two people in a certain camp died of starvation. The two survivors were an Eskimo woman and her baby. The woman began a desperate search for some means of obtaining food. Eventually she found a small fish hook. It was a simple matter to rig a line, but she has no bait, and no hope of getting any.

Without hesitation, she took a knife and cut a piece from her thigh, and used this as a bait. Fortunately, she caught a fish and was able to feed her child and herself. Indeed, she is a typical mother who would do anything and everything for her child to survive.

This is aptly illustrated by the Gospel account that we have heard today. Jesus, together with his disciples, traveled to Tyre and Sidon (now Lebanon). And lo, a Canaanite woman, in her desperation, begged Jesus to heal her daughter who was tormented by an evil spirit. “Lord, son of David, have pity on me. My daughter is terribly troubled by a demon.” This woman must have heard a lot about Jesus. She acknowledged that Jesus is the promise Messiah, the son of David, who alone can deliver her child from the power of Satan. Jesus didn’t even give her attention. So the woman asked the help of his of his disciples. Her persistence must have annoyed them so that they said to Jesus, “Get rid of her. She keeps on shouting after us.” Jesus said in reply: “My mission is only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus knows His primary mission is to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, thus He has nothing to do with the pagans and unbelievers like this woman. But the woman was resilient and persistent. In humility, she said: “Lord, help me.”

Again Jesus was disrespectful, mean and sarcastic to her when he said: “It is not right to take the food of sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs.” Who are these sons and daughters? They are the children of Abraham. They are the ones who should first receive the gift of salvation. Who are the dogs? The pagans and unbelievers. They do not deserve God’s gift of salvation from Jesus. But the woman was wise and witty enough to respond to him. “Please Lord, even the dogs eat the leavings that fall from the master’s table.” The woman has acknowledged that the Jews, the children of Abraham, have the right to obtain God’s salvation through Jesus, but she craves only a small piece of it. Her response expresses her deep faith, persistence and resilience and was able to change the mind of Jesus from being exclusive to inclusive when he said: “Oh woman, you have great faith. Your wish will come to pass.” Her child was healed that moment.

This Gospel pericope inspires, convicts and challenges us to change our mentality from being too exclusive to being inclusive; to overcome our biases and prejudices among people. We Filipinos we have the tendency to speak our language (Tagalog or other vernacular dialects) among ourselves. We are insensitive to people (husbands who happened to be Americans or from other nationalities) who don’t understand our language. To be inclusive is to change immediately to English so we are understood they and can join in the conversation. As immigrants, we are expected to integrate with the culture, tradition and language of the people. This is what it means to be inclusive, too.

Second, we must believe the existence of the devil around us. He is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. We have to resist him. According to an exorcist, there are three ways to be possessed by the devil, namely: deep seated anger and resentment; being far away from the Church, sacraments etc.; and the belief in magic and amulets. To shun the devil, we have to forgive, go to church often, and not believe in black magic, amulets, spiritism, etc. We must use the Holy Water often, and pray to our guardian angel and St. Michael wherever we go, most especially while driving.

Incidentally today, Our Lady of the Valley is celebrating her 53rd Patronal Feast Day, the Solemnity of the Assumption. Thus, we take the prayers and readings proper to this Solemnity. We will also have a floral offering at the 10:00am Mass. Congratulations to Our Lady of the Valley Parish on her 53rd anniversary.