On Saturday, August 19, 2023, Deacon Vincent Tawake CM was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Suva, Dr. Peter Loi Chong. Some 30 priests attended the ordination. I had accompanied Fr. Vincent on and off during his eight years of formation at the pacific Regional seminary in Suva, Fiji. The next day his first Mass was help in his home village of Navatuyaba in the Rewa Delta about twenty miles outside Suva. I was asked to preach at the first Mass and was glad to do so for Vincent’s sake but also because I felt a double debt of gratitude that needed to be paid. I felt that as a Columban I could in a tiny way repay some of the Columban debt of gratitude to the Vincentians.
The Gospel was the challenging one of the story of the Caananite woman who asks Jesus to heal her possessed daughter in Matthew 15. I announced that we had two special guests with us this Sunday, St. Vincent and the Caananite woman. St. Vincent’s priorities, as I understood them, were threefold, the poor, the education of the clergy and the missions. And, strange as it may seem, Jesus is dealing with all three of St. Vincent’s priorities in this Gospel.
Firstly, we are in a missionary situation. Jesus is probably in gentile territory. He is approached by a gentile. Mathew emphasized a lot that Jesus’ focus was on His own people, the Jews. The disciples just want Jesus to send the woman away as a nuisance. They get a good education today. This woman can be called poor, maybe not materially, we just don’t know, but anyone whose daughter is possessed qualifies for poverty of some sort.
Three times she addresses Jesus as Lord. She even uses a messianic title for Him, Son of David. The first time, Jesus does not even answer her. The second time He explains He has come for the Jews and cannot give the bread of the children (the Eucharist?) to puppies. She is not to be outdone. Even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from the table. Jesus’ strategy now becomes clear. He has been testing her faith and she has come through with flying colors. “Woman, great is your faith.”
This gentile with magnificent faith no doubt prepares the way for Jesus’ great commission at the end of Matthew, “Going therefor make disciples of all nations.” I then reminded Fr. Vincent of the final question the Archbishop put to him before ordaining him. This is one to which we must all pay attention. “Are you resolved to unite yourself each day more closely to Jesus”?
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