Gospel: August 7, 2024
(Wednesday)
18th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green/Red/White)
St. Sixtus II, pope, & companions, martyr / St. Cajetan, priest
Responsorial Psalm: Jer 31: 10, 11-12ab, 13
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guard his flock.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 31: 1-7
Yahweh declares that when that time comes he will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be his people.
Thus says Yahweh: The people who survived the sword have found grace in the desert. As Israel was seeking for his rest Yahweh appeared from afar saying, I have loved you with a love everlasting, so I have kept for you my mercy. I will restore you again, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel!
You will take up your tambourines and go out dancing joyfully. You will plant vineyards again on the hills of Samaria, and the farmers who plant them will enjoy their fruit.
There shall be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, “Come, let us go to Zion, to Yahweh our God!”
For Yahweh says this, “Shout with joy for Jacob; rejoice for the greatest of nations. Proclaim your praise and say: ‘Yahweh has saved his people, the remnant of Israel!’
Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So his disciples approached him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.”
Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”
But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.” The woman replied, “That is true, sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Reflection: “How great is your faith!”
Today’s Gospel narrates Jesus going to the region of Tyre and Sidon where a Canaanite woman pleaded him to heal her daughter who was being tormented by a demon. The immediate reaction of Jesus’ disciples was to dismiss the woman. They told Jesus to send the woman away. Jesus did not heed his disciples’ suggestion. Rather, he began talking with the woman. Jesus’ explanation of Israel as the primary locus of his mission also served as a conversation starter, reflective of Jesus’ openness to enter into a dialogue with anybody.
Jesus told the woman that it is not proper to give to the puppies the bread intended for the children. The woman expressed herself out of love for her daughter and out of her faith in Jesus. She told Jesus that even the puppies would eat the crumbs falling from the master’s table, implying that even the outsiders are in need of the same blessings given and enjoyed by the insiders. Jesus’ act of healing the woman’s daughter indicates a mission that is open and expansive.
