August 16, 2026
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 | Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 | Matthew 15:21-28
The Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel story is an outsider, not a member of the people of Israel, yet she approaches Jesus with courage and faith. She is persistent in her cry when she says, “Lord, help me.” She refuses to take “no” for an answer, not because she is entitled, but because she is a mother who loves her child and has absolute clarity about who Jesus is.
I invite you to feel a real connection to the Canaanite woman in her plea to have Jesus heal her daughter. In daily life we all encounter moments where we need healing for ourselves, our loved ones, communities, friends, colleagues and yes, even strangers.
Recently I had the privilege of giving a brief talk (through a translator) on healing, forgiveness and gratitude to a group of priests in the Ukraine via Zoom. My first reaction was to say … what can I possibly say to these priests about healing amid the struggles they have and continue to experience from war? I recall so vividly what one priest said to me: “If I can’t forgive and believe that if I call upon Jesus to help me, I know it will happen in due time. If I trust and embrace the healing power of Jesus, my heart will be filled with gratitude.” I imagine the Canaanite woman felt the same and was filled with gratitude when Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”
I believe the Canaanite woman teaches us two important lessons. First, faith requires radical humility — she came to Jesus asking for mercy, willing to take whatever grace Jesus was willing to give, knowing that the Lord is enough to heal life. Second, prayer requires persistence — God’s silence is not necessarily God’s refusal. Sometimes, a delay in responding to prayer or our call “Lord, help me” is an invitation to grow deeper in trust.
May we, as the Canaanite woman demonstrated, call out to Jesus in faith with our prayers and gratitude as women and men of faith.
Maryknoll Brother Wayne Fitzpatrick, of Malone, New York, made his first oath to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in 1973. He has served in Guatemala and in the United States in leadership for the Maryknoll Society.
To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here.
Featured image: An elderly woman pulls a sled with her belongings during the distribution of humanitarian aid brought by volunteers outside a church in Luhansk, Ukraine. (OSV News/Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters)
