Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 118
20 AUG 2017 A.D.



Reading 1
Is 56:1, 6-7

Thus says the LORD:
Observe what is right, do what is just;
for my salvation is about to come,
my justice, about to be revealed.

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.



Responsorial Psalm
Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!



Reading 2
Rom 11:13-15, 29-32

Brothers and sisters:
I am speaking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles,
I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous
and thus save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world,
what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.



Alleluia
Mt 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.



Gospel
Mt 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
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."
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

Bible Study--20th Sunday in Ordinary Time--Cycle A


"Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful." –St. Josemaria Escriva

GREAT was the Canaanite's woman's faith!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

I never quite understood Jesus' initial replies.  Was it a matter of time?  As in, it was not yet time to accept Gentiles?

Great question, abnk!

I had a problem with this as well.

Near as I can tell, I tried putting this in Biblical context: the prior public teaching of Jesus in Matthew really cracked on the Pharisees.  Their smugness, their exclusivity, their 600 some odd laws, procedures, reasonings, their total devotion to the Hebrews AND NO ONE ELSE (I think this last point is the key.)

Also--look at St. Peter's lack of faith from last week's reading--he took his eyes and focus off Jesus and he sank! Faithless.

So our Blessed Lord at first acts just like the Pharisees--he parallels their disdain for those not Jews. He even indirectly calls the Canaanite woman a dog! WHOA! (Dogs were a small step up from swine in the Jewish culture.)

But, and I think this is the key, the Canaanite woman abandons all logic, reason, and legalities. She lets her heart speak: "HELP ME, LORD!" A desperate cry born of humility and faith in Jesus.

THAT is the key--her immense FAITH! She does not use logic, rules, reasons, or law--simply FAITH!

And at that point in time--Jesus responds. And does he respond! It's like our Blessed Lord lets it be known to the Pharisees--"LOOK! I'm not about laws and customs, and nit picky procedures--I am about LOVE and FAITH. This woman has great faith AND she's an outsider. So what? She has faith in me--I will heal her daughter."

Jesus really shows up the Pharisees! Blows 'em away!

Jesus comes for love, mercy, and compassion--not limited by heritage, birthright, race, color, creed--just pure FAITH in him.

At Vigil Mass tonight, our young Fr. Patrick used all these ideas in his homily.

He preached: "Logic and reason are fine; we need them. But FAITH will do wonders. Next time you face a problem, forget all the logical niceties--just have FAITH. Ask Jesus to get you out of the problem PERIOD--forget the arguments, reasons, bullet points. Just say: 'Jesus, help me' like the Canaanite woman did."

Hope this helps; it did for me.

I think you're right, in that He saw her faith and belief in Him, and out of love, He healed her daughter.
But, our Messiah kept the Father's ordinances to the last jot and tittle. Or He wouldn't have qualified as our Redeemer. In that instance, He wasn't rebuking the Pharisees for imposing our Father's ordinances, but for imposing Pharisaic or Rabbinical law. While washing one's hands is surely a good thing, it is not found in our Father's loving instruction for us, His children. It is merely their tradition, that was enforced as a commandment of men, even while neglecting weightier matters like love and helping those in need. Traditions of men became the norm for them while they were in diaspora in Babylon for all those years, and were separated from our Father's TORAH.

Matt. 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Beautifully put. At the time of Christ, historically it was 1. Not ok for females to interact with Jewish males. They were not allowed to publicalky speak unless spoken too. The apostles were holding to tradition. Strike two, she was Canaanite. The Torah refers to Canaanites as Dogs. They were half breeds and considered unclean. Christ came from the house of David. He also came to destroy the prejudice which had been the source of constant wars between the houses of The Jews. It's miracles within miracles. How timely! What a great post and discussion! Thank you!

Thank you, BeNotAfraid.  That's very close to the homily I heard today.

YES! Thanks for that, Zhuk!