Theme

Twentieth Sunday of the Year *17^thAugust 2008*
Theme :	*‘God of all and God for all!’*
1st. Reading:	Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
2nd Reading:	Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Gospel :	Matthew 15:21 -28

Dear Friend,

In life we are a strange bundle of contradictions. While we love to be included and feel that we are part of an elite circle of special people, we do not want others to be included and often make efforts to exclude people. Even in our faith practices and beliefs, we sometimes tend to believe that we are God’s privileged people who have a monopoly of God. We believe that we are more close to God because of our efforts and practices. The good news is that God has no favourites because everyone is a favourite of God. Have a enjoyable weekend celebrating God’s openness to all!

Fr. Jude Botelho

At the time of Isaiah’s writing his prophecy there were a lot of foreigners in Israel. The Israelites considered themselves as the chosen people, the privileged people of God. Through their rituals and customs they wished to set themselves apart from others. The pagans were excluded from worship of their God. The question arose as to whether or not the benefits of salvation should be extended to these foreigners. Isaiah gave a clear and positive answer: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” says the Lord. Foreigners who attached themselves to the Lord, to serve God and praise his name, all who observe God’s precepts and commandments were welcome into the house of God and the kingdom of heaven. God was for all and is the exclusive property of none. He has no favorites!

All are welcome…..
Once upon a time a group of people gathered outside the gates of heaven. They were good-living, respectable, God-fearing people. As they waited out for Peter to open the gates, they were amazed that there had been no judgement, not that they were complaining! They were sure of getting in, they were eager to occupy their reserved seats in the front rows. Suddenly there was a commotion. There was a rumour that everyone, yes, everyone was being allowed to enter heaven: that shady businessman, the street girl, that thief, that good-for-nothing housewife, even the non-believer, all were going in! These late arrivals feeling the hostility of the former group gathered in a little group by themselves. They were hoping to get in through the mercy and goodness of God. The do-gooders were getting restless and they started complaining to one another: “It’s not fair that people like these should get in. There’s no justice!” But the Lord arrived. Turning to the first group he said, “I understand you have been wondering why there has been no judgement.” “Yes,” they cried out. “We want a judgement, we want justice.” “But the judgement has already taken place,” the Lord answered. “What do you mean?” they asked in surprise. “You’ve judged yourselves,” said he. “By judging these people, you have judged and condemned yourselves.” They were flabbergasted, and began to complain bitterly: “It’s not fair. We tried to a good life. But these others lived bad lives.” Jesus replied, “Yes they have done evil things, but they have repented, and I am merciful. Yes, I find more faith, more courage, more humility and more love among them that among you.” Having said this, the Lord opened the gates of heaven and welcomed with open arms to the second group to heaven. The first shall be last and the last first!
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Homilies’

Today’s gospel story is a strange and wonderful one, yet it is one with which we are all familiar. It involves an encounter between Jesus and a Canaanite woman who came from the region of Tyre and Sidon. The woman came to beg from Jesus, but the she was not begging for money, she was begging for a favour. How would Jesus deal with this kind of a situation? Jesus had withdrawn with his apostles to the region of Tyre and Sidon, which was gentile country. It appears that he had gone there for a break. However, no sooner had he gone there, than he was accosted by a pagan woman who pestered him to cure her sick daughter. The apostles who were with Jesus reacted, as perhaps we would in a similar situation. For them the Canaanite woman was a nuisance. They just wanted Jesus to get rid of her, as quickly as possible. Indeed, even Jesus’ reaction surprises us. At first he ignored her. He maintains a stony silence. Then he refuses her and tries to put her off. He even seems to insult her but to no avail. She is a very determined lady and refuses to take No for an answer. Finally he grants her request. The woman succeeded because she had the unshakeable determination of a mother. She just refused to be put off or give up. She is an example to us of perseverance, courage and love. But she is also an example of faith for Jesus said to her, “Woman you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.” She is a model of what can be called tough faith. Sometime people say, “Oh, it is easy for you you’ve got great faith!” But faith does not always make things easy. In fact the opposite is more likely to be the case. But faith can hold on when there is love. Faith and love are inseparably connected. Love is an expression of our faith.

Exercising our faith
Dostoevski in his book The Brothers Karamazov refers to a way of exercising faith that deserves special attention. In the book there is an old woman whose spiritual health is beginning to deteriorate as rapidly as her physical health. One day she discusses her problem with an old priest, named Fr. Zossima. She tells him about her weak faith and the doubts she is beginning to have: Is there a God who cares? Is there life after death? Fr. Zossima listens compassionately and says: “There is no way to prove these things, but you can become more sure of them.” “How?” cried the old woman. “By love,” says the old priest. “Try to love your neighbour from the heart. The more you love, the surer you will become about God’s existence and life after death. The more you love, the stronger your faith will grow and the weaker your doubts will become. This is sure. This has been tried. This works.” – This brings us back to the woman in the gospel. She came to Jesus for another, not for herself. She came out of love. She came as a loving, faith-filled mother and Jesus praised her faith.

Mark Link in ’Sunday Homilies’

Making her presence felt
In 1919 the people of Plymouth voted in their new member of parliament. The new member was born in the United States, but this was not the reason why the majority of the British parliament was antagonistic towards its new member. The new M.P. was a woman Nancy Astor, the first woman to gain a seat in the House of Commons. Since Lady Astor believed in making her presence felt in the House of Commons, she regularly interrupted the other speakers –particularly on the rights of woman. When rebuked for her constant interruptions, she protested that she had been listening for hours before interrupting. A colleague whispered to her: “Yes, Nancy, we’ve all heard you listening.” In today’s gospel we heard of a pagan woman listening to Jesus and we saw how she made her presence felt. She comes across as one of the most attractive characters in the pages of the gospel: a mother who is tormented by the torment of her daughter, a woman who takes to the streets to make her plea to Jesus, who refuses to take his silence for the last word. She is the only person in the gospels who has the wit to outwit Jesus. And in the end she gets what she wants.
Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word”

“Responding to the plea of the Canaanite woman, Jesus remains silent first, as if he shared the arrogant particularism of the Jews vis-a vis these pagan dogs. It might be said that he hesitates, and that when he decides in the end to answer the woman, he does so roughly and without respect for her feelings. This is in accordance with God’s plan: he wishes to gather together the lost sheep of Israel first and only then, starting with this renewed people, will he welcome the heathens, according to the greatness of their faith, which enables them too to belong to the immense progeny of Abraham who believed. What about the woman and her demand? She does not believe she has any right to demand the heavenly bread of friendship, reserved in the beginning for the Jews. She only asks for the crumbs, but with such great faith and humility that in the end she will receive the fullness of salvation for which she was hoping. In Jesus’ special welcome of this foreigner, the Christians of the first century saw a foreboding of how they should behave towards those believers who came to them from paganism. They had to go out beyond the boundaries of an elitist religion, confined to a single race, and offer a universal salvation which springs from faith.” - Glenstal Bible Missal

Woman great is your faith!
“Help me, please sir. My daughter is in a rehab centre and I need bus fare to go visit her. She needs me.” The woman looked pretty scruffy herself. Probably a scam to get money for a drink or drugs, the man thought as he turned away. “I gave at the office” he muttered. “It wouldn’t be fare to single you out for special consideration.” But the woman persisted. Smiling she told him, “Sometimes people need special treatment. I can see you are a kind man. I just know you will help.” He was completely won over by her faith in him and her confidence. “Woman great is your faith!” This was obvious from her tenacity. She would not take ‘no’ for an answer. His answer was almost predictable: “Okay, here is enough for a bus ticket.” And the woman went to visit her daughter who needed her reassurance to continue her journey to recovery. Today’s gospel teaches us a number of lessons, the need to trust that Jesus does care for us and the need to persist in prayer. We learn to be tenacious when we are certain of the justice of our cause.

– Patrick M. Doyle

Tough Faith
Shortly after World War II, workmen were clearing out the debris from a bombed out house in Cologne, Germany. On one of the cellar walls of the house they found a moving inscription. It had apparently been written by a fugitive Jew who had used the basement to hide from Nazis. The inscription read: “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when he is silent!”

Anonymus

May we hang on and believe even when there is no reason to!

Fr. Jude Botelho
director@niscort.com

P.S. :The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. I would be happy if you could link this website to your own parish/diocesan/institutional website. If you wish to receive these reflections by e-mail, or send them to a friend, do send in the e-mail address to <jude@netforlife.plus.com>

Other Sunday Homily Websites

www.opsouth.org

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Daily Reflections

Creighton Daily Reflections

Immaculate Heart Retreat Center

Gospel Commentary from Ireland

Daily Scripture Readings

www.usccb.org/nab/today.htm

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