No Exclusion

Today's Gospel story of the Canaanite woman teaches us two things: No one is to be excluded from our circle, and persistence in prayer works. Of all people who should have been shoved aside by the disciples who were so eager to do so with the children, it should have been this woman, who was not of the "house of Israel." Yet, because of her determination to get help for her daughter, she presses her case by yelling out. Jesus remains silent, and the disciples are more than annoyed. Somehow, she got closer, knelt and "did him homage" (bowed) and retorted with her famous argument that "even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus acknowledges her FAITH and grants her request.
How often are we annoyed by the "junk mail" that arrives daily or the panhandling of the homeless man standing at an intersection with his cardboard sign: HOMELESS, HUNGRY?
We quickly tear up the letters or step on the gas without giving these beggars a chance. It's humiliating to have to beg and worse to be ignored. What if Jesus treated our "begging prayers" the way we treat those who beg from us?
Bro. Rene