“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.’” 

With our modern sensibilities, this exchange seems shocking. In a culture where honor is at a premium, in almost every case, Jesus wins these interactions of repartee, cementing his claim to honor. In this case he loses, but perhaps intentionally. The Canaanite woman bests Jesus with her witty comeback, but also displays great faith, itself a gift, to which Jesus responds. Jesus is always drawing out the gift of faith and does so here with this woman. Considered on the outside of the understood realm of salvation, she is granted her request because of her faith. If it is shocking to us, one cannot imagine how shocking, radical, and transformational it would have been to the Jewish people, Jesus’s disciples included. Jesus redraws the boundaries of grace and, thereby, the boundaries of salvation. The horizon of who are God’s people just expanded beyond the chosen people, or even (as we see in the first reading), those foreigners who join themselves by observance of the covenant to God’s chosen people. All who respond in faith are granted grace. 

The Catholic Church understands salvation as initiated by God’s action in history, beginning with creation, finding its climax in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, who gave his life in love for all, and continuing through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. While it is God’s will for all to spend eternity with him, that doesn’t overwhelm our need and capacity to freely choose to respond to God’s initiative. St. Augustine put it this way, “God who created you without you, will not save you without you.” As a process that continues through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, the body of Christ, the once and continuing action of Jesus is necessary for salvation and, as his body, the Church is necessary for salvation. The Church affirms an ancient axiom: extra ecclesiam nulla salus. “Outside the Church there is no salvation” means that all salvation comes from Jesus Christ through the Church, but that action is not limited necessarily to those who are baptized Catholics. While it is beyond the scope of this article to delve fully into the nuances of different circumstances, elements of salvation can be found within other churches and Christian communities, some who have not been baptized may be saved through their desire, and those who, through no fault of their own, have no knowledge of Jesus or have not had a credible witness of that knowledge receive a grace, still from Christ and connected to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, to enlighten them to the truth within their particular situation and to give them the capacity to respond to the truth as they know it. In short, God desires all to be saved and gives every person the opportunity through knowledge of truth and right action to come to salvation. 

In all cases, however, God will not save us without us. God’s will, grace, and mercy do not overwhelm us. Our choice is essential. Our faith is essential. Within the depths of our hearts and lived out in our actions, we say yes to God’s initiative. Our faith in a merciful God gives us hope that each person can respond to God’s grace and live in his eternal love. It is my hope and your hope of salvation.