If we situate today's gospel reading within the context of Jesus' missionary journey, and if we take the region of Tyre and Sidon as representing at that time the territory inhabited by pagans, then the episode of the Canaanite woman has much to say to us.
This gospel calls on us all to open our eyes and have a better grasp of what lies in the depth of the human spirit.
God created us all in his own image and likeness.
We believe this, even if we created and continue to create so many boundaries in the name of religion and of God Himself.
The Canaanite woman hailed from pagan territory, according to Jewish criteria. Yet Jesus declared: "Woman, you have great faith."
At face value, Jesus' behaviour in this gospel appears to be very cruel.
Jesus' discourse sounds extremely exclusive and contrasts so much with the inclusivity shown by Isaiah himself and Paul in the other readings.
But this text needs to be read in the context of an issue of particular importance to the community Matthew is addressing - the relative positions of Jews and Gentiles in God's plan of salvation.
The immediate context of today's gospel is Jesus moving in pagan territory, and Matthew highlights Jesus' position with regard to these 'strangers' by emphasising the scope of his mission: "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Isaiah, however, declares that God will bring foreigners to His holy mountain so that they may join in the worship there.
There is an apparent contradiction between the universalism of Isaiah and the exclusivism of Matthew.
And to be honest, this story still goes on in our minds because this contradiction has remained unresolved for most of the 2,000 years of Christianity's history.
Matthew turns this incident into a fruitful conversation and portrays the 'stranger' as a model of praying faith.
If only we had eyes to see, when we look around, and the courage to ask the question 'What do unbelievers believe in?'
This episode on the one hand preserves the historical precedence of Israel in accordance with the biblical and later Jewish tradition.
On the other hand, it opens up, with Jesus acknowledging the deep belief of someone who tradition does not even take account of.
This brings forth the ongoing conflict even in our times between two loyalties.
We still need to come to terms with the need, on the one hand, to affirm an identity that has a content, and the conviction, on the other hand, that we cannot continue excluding arbitrarily and arrogantly so many peoples and cultures.
In the name of Jesus and for too long we have perpetuated a closed circuit Christianity branded as exclusive, condemning millions of people, indeed the vast majority of humankind, to perdition.
But how can we sincerely believe that and reconcile this exclusivism with the all-embracing and merciful God? Unfortunately, although religion per se is a factor of unity, it has throughout history served as motive to create and perpetuate barriers of race, language, culture, and class.
We need at this juncture of history to underline that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was and is meant to cancel all traces of ethnic boundaries.
At times we sound too much like 'fire and brimstone', sensing everywhere the smell of heresy, deviation, and disobedience.
How many 'Canaanite women' are still around today in our churches and in our culture crying to be included and instead, finding closed doors?
We ignore that beyond the boundaries we create, there is a God who calls forth those whom He created to give them dignity and salvation.
As at the time of Jesus, what is unfortunately happening even today is that more people are coming to feel at home with God, whoever that may be for them, and less comfortable in our churches. And there is a reason for this.
Christianity, being the good news of God through Jesus Christ, cannot afford to be any longer part of that same problem Jesus meant to resolve. Isaiah puts it significantly:
"Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest."