We are all a Little bit racist!

XX Sunday “A” Matthew 15:21-28 At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus' disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour. There is a Musical that was popular in New York several years ago called Avenue Q and one of the songs is called, “Everyone is a little bit racist.” The refrain is: Everyone's a little bit Racist, sometimes. Doesn't mean we go around committing Hate crimes. Look around and You will find, No one's color-blind. Maybe it's a fact We all should face. Everyone makes judgments... Based on race. The song I think tells a bit of the truth. We are all a little bit racist. There are people that are different from us that we have pre-conceived notions about. We think that all “Americans are the same.” We think that people who are “Jewish are alike.” I know in my country many people have pre-conceived notions about Mexicans. Former president Trump would be one good example. I am sure that here in Mexico it is the same. I remember people from Chihuahua saying things about people from Mexico City. Maybe people say things about people who are indigenous or who from the country. Even in Jesus’ time people were racist as we can see in the Gospel for today. The Jewish people hated the Canaanites. When they arrived in the Holy Land after fleeing Egypt the Canaanites were the ones who possessed the land. 12 centuries later they still had these pre-conceived notions about them, they just didn’t like them, even today we know that there is animosity between the Israelis and Palestinians. It is in this atmosphere that a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus asking him to cure her daughter who is sick. How could she? How could she possible approach Jesus? A woman, a foreigner, a pagan of all people. The disciples tell Jesus, “Get rid of her.” Even Jesus seems to call her a dog. But let us look more closely at this woman who approached Jesus. What are her first words to Jesus? “Have pity on me, have mercy on me Son of David.” This foreigner recognizes who Jesus is and she asks for Jesus’ mercy. Just like we do at the beginning of the mass, we ask for Jesus’ mercy. She isn’t so much asking Jesus for something, but she is praying to Jesus, she is praying to him and asking him to have mercy upon her, mercy by healing her daughter. What this outsider is teaching the Jewish people to do is how to pray. How to approach Jesus. When Jesus admonishes her saying that he has come for the lost sheep of Israel she says to him in response. “Lord, help me.” She doesn’t get into an argument or a discussion with Jesus. No, she does Jesus homage and asks him to help her, to heal her daughter. Again, what this woman is doing is teaching us is how to pray! How to approach Jesus. Even Jesus is astonished by her faith. What does this story say to us? As I said at the beginning, we are all a little bit racist. So, the first step is to admit that we do have pre-conceived notions about people, to admit that we have the tendency to put people in a box and think that they all this way. The second step is to meet the person who is other than ourselves, to meet the person who is different. This is what happened to Jesus. The woman approached him, and he finally stopped and listened to her. He learned that she was a woman much like his own mother. Maybe different skin color, speaking different language, certainly worshipping differently. But still a mother who was worried about her sick child. Finally, it was the woman’s faith that healed her child. So, what we must do is to ask for this gift of faith. Ask that God may teach us to be believers. Racism is a terrible sin. Many wars and battles have been fought between folks who are different. Let us ask to bless us with the gift of faith like the Canaanite woman in the Gospel. It is only as a person of faith that we will behold to overcome our racism and begin to build a better world for all humanity.