Like I said earlier, catechism class generates a lot of my FGO material. Here's another recounting from class, which I then told to the Knights as an FGO. Sometimes I actually say what happened in class, or ask questions like I do in class; other times I just repackage the class material to fit the time constraints of a given meeting. In the following example, if time were short I might stick to the story and the Greek/English translation; time permitting I'd add the bits about the triple request, intercession, and other translations. BTW, there's no whiteboard in the room where we have our business meetings; but if there were, I'd use it the same as I do in class.
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During a catechism class on Jesus' intercessory miracles (Cana, Jairus'
daughter, the Centurion's servant, etc.), a student asked about the
miracle where Jesus calls a woman a dog. I gave an off-the-cuff answer I
wasn't satisfied with, said I'd come back next week with something
better.
Here's the story from Matt 15: 21-28:
"And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and
Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and
cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely
possessed by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his
disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying
after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel." 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord,
help me." 26 And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's
bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the
dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28* Then Jesus
answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you
desire." And her daughter was healed instantly."
Because she's a pagan Canaanite it's no surprise that she's indirectly
compared to a dog. And not in a nice, faithful Fido way, but like this:
"Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you." But as
we'll see, sometimes a dog is not a dog.
Here's how it worked in class:
"Hey, daughter, remember last week you asked about the woman that Jesus
called a dog. That's a great story I've never covered in class before,
but let's look at it now before we get into the lesson plan.
Here we go: "And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district
of Tyre and Sidon." The story starts with Jesus getting out of Judea
for a while because he had been aggravating the scribes and Pharisees.
Sidon is also where Elijah fled after he aggravated King Ahab. You may
remember he stayed in Zarephath. Tell me about it. He made food for the woman! Yes, her flour and oil didn't run out; why? Cause she was nice to him! Yes; God favored her with miracles because of her charity, even though she was a...pagan! Yes.
And remember Jesus aggravated people at the synagogue in Nazareth when
he reminded them about Elijah working miracles for the pagan widow in
Zarephath instead of helping Chosen People during the drought.
"And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried,
"Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely
possessed by a demon." 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his
disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying
after us." They don't want a pagan woman hanging around. But Jesus
says, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Who
are these lost sheep? Jews! Yes. But is Jesus telling her he won't help? No. Right. He's just saying that helping her isn't his job. At the wedding in Cana what did Mary tell Jesus? They have no wine. Yes, and Jesus said...why is that my problem? Yes, and...my time has not yet come. Yes, good. Is Jesus saying he won't help? No. Right.
He's not being mean or uncooperative in either case...I think he's just
giving people a chance to show their faith more clearly for the benefit
of the people around them.
"But [the Canaanite woman] came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." Is she giving up? No! Right. But Jesus said "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Who are the children? Well...people's kids? Umm, that's not a bad guess; the children are God's sons and daughters...his family...the Jews! Yes. And the dogs? Pagans! Yes, like...the woman! Yes. If we say "throw it to the dogs" or "work like a dog" or "live like a dog" is it good? No it's bad.
Yes, we don't mean a happy family dog, a pet. We mean a rough dog, one
that has a hard life. As Jesus said on another occasion: "Do not give
dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they
trample them under foot and turn to attack you." Yikes! So Jesus says
the kids get the bread, not "the dogs."
Do y'all know what swine are? Pigs? Yes, just checking. Pigs and dogs were unclean, like pagans.
The word dog shows up 41 times in the English Bible; pretty often. And what language was the New Testament written in? Greek! Yes. The Greek word for dog is kuon [on the board] (κυων). Almost every time an English Bible says dog, the Greeks say kuon. But when Jesus says "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs," the Greek word is kunarion [on the board] (κυναριον). Now in English if we want to call a dog [otb], we'd say, "here, dog." But if it were a little dog, we'd say...here, doggie! Yes, doggie [otb]. To add an -ie or a -y does what to an English word? It makes it little! Yes. Well in Greek, -arion does the same thing. So if kuon means...dog, yes, then kunarion means...doggie! Yes. Can it mean puppy? Yes, puppy is ok too. We might also say lapdog. What's that? A little dog that sits on your lap? Yes. Hey somebody dígame, cómo se llama "dog" en español? Perro [otb]. Yes. Some Spanish Bibles say perrillo [otb] in this story, what that mean? Puppy! Yes. the -illo suffix means...little! Yes.
So what Jesus says to the woman is, "It is not fair to take the
children's bread and throw it to the doggies, the pups." I think the
apostles expected Jesus to refer to the woman as a kuon, a dog.
That was a common way for Jews to describe pagans. But instead, Jesus
says "doggie," which is kind of affectionate; how you'd call a pet, an animal member of your family.
Jesus is showing the
apostles that even though he was sent to the Jews, he can include "all
peoples" in his work, as Isaiah used to say.
Now, has Jesus rejected the woman this time? I don't think so. Right. The woman now says, "even the doggies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." What's she mean? That she just wants a little bit of help? Yes. She's not a greedy dog, but a harmless little...puppy!
Yes, who's happy to have what the children leave behind. She knows "the
Master" will give them more food than they can eat. And how many times
has she asked Jesus for a little help? Umm...three times! So...it's a contract! Good
thinking; in this case it's not so much a contract as it is her firm
demonstration of faith. How many times do you think she's willing to ask
Jesus to heal her daughter? As many times as it takes! Yes, but
three times is enough. And Jesus says, "O woman, great is your faith! Be
it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. I
bet the apostles were thinking, "Wow, this is like when Elijah fled to
Sidon and brought the pagan widow's dead son back to life."
Tell me: did the Canaanite woman's daughter have faith? We don't know. Jairus' daughter? Don't know! Centurion's servant? Don't know! Paralyzed man? Don't know! The wedding party at Cana? Don't know! Right. Jesus did those people a favor because other people of faith asked for them. What's that called? Intercession! Yes. And remind me who intercedes when a baby is baptized? The parents! And does Jesus do the parents a favor? Yes! Right!
Y'all are smart children!
[I don't cover the following in 6th-grade, but for those who must know: Greek kuon κυων is related to the Latin canis via the Indo-European stem kwon. And
a quick tour of other Bibles show the "dogs" to be catelli (Latin),
cagnolini (Italian), cachorrinhos (Portuguese), petits chiens (French),
små hunder (Norwegian), and
щенята (Ukranian): not dogs, but doggies.]
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I encourage all Lectors to buy a cheap NAB Bible. Then when you prepare an FGO (like this one), highlight what you're going to read, and stickytab those pages. Read those bits straight from the Bible when you deliver the FGO: that is, it's better for your audience if you use the Bible than read a printout of the relevant passages. Plus, over time your Bible will accumulate highlights such that you can flip through, see a highlighted verse, and remember what you said about it. This will gradually give you a comprehensive grasp of Scripture based on your own active engagement with it.
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