DES CRYAN,
Sir, - In his Thinking Anew piece of August 31st, F. MacE.comes to the extraordinary conclusion that in the Gospel account of the Canaanite woman who sought a cure for her daughter, Jesus "shows an unreasonable bigotry and that must constitute a sin". He goes on to say later in his piece that "the bulk of racism masks the very comment that Jesus made about sharing what belonged to the children with the dogs."
In a Letter to the Editor nearby under the heading "God in the World", a clerical writer, lauding a recent column by John Waters, makes the point: "God actually is a human being" - a clear reference to Jesus Christ. To anyone who accepts the divine as well as the human nature of Jesus, surely it is preposterous to refer to him in the manner in which F. MacE does. In Matthew 15: 21-28 Jesus explicitly makes the the point that he was "sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and it is in that context that this story is partly told.
As for how the woman fared, it has only to be recalled that Jesus answered her: "O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as your desire." Scarcely an outcome stemming from "unreasonable bigotry", is it? - Yours, etc.,
DES CRYAN, Blackrock, Co Dublin.