Homily Cycle A 8/16/2020 – 20th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
In our Entrance Antiphon we prayed, “Turn your
eyes, O God … look on the face of your anointed one; one day within your courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere.”
Then in our Gospel, we heard the story of the Canaanite mother who sought
healing for her daughter. Jesus
initially ignores her because she isn’t a Jew; later, Jesus commissions the
disciples to baptize “all nations”. (Mt 28:19)
Matthew’s Gospel begins with Jesus’ genealogy,
tracing his Jewish heritage through Joseph back to Abraham. The genealogy names mostly men; but in
addition to Jesus’ mother, Mary, there are four other women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth
and Bathsheba. They were either explicitly
or implicitly non-Israelites who played a significant role in the history of
Israel. [August 2020, issue of America Magazine.]
Jesus affirms her belief in Him ‘O woman,
great is your faith!’ Her insistence
that Jesus heal her daughter means the Gospel message is for all people. The
Canaanite woman’s story points to a world where justice, mercy and the love of
God prevail.
Isaiah reminds us our life is to be a “house of
prayer”. That house doesn’t eliminate or
remove the crosses that come into our life or the hardships that we will
endure. God sustains us, through the
gift of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh.
Jesus teaches us His way, and if we walk His path, our life will be
Joy-filled.
In the Gospel Jesus appears to be rude and mean to the Canaanite
woman. His meeting with the Canaanite
“…challenges us to take a much wider view of our world and the people who
inhabit it.” (Connections, 08-17-08) The Canaanite woman reminds us that
unwavering trust in Jesus and His Gospel is central to our discipleship! Jesus challenges His disciples and us, to
reflect on why we do what we do.
Maybe this story can help us.
Every day, for years, he visited his wife in the nursing home;
she suffered from Alzheimer’s …. He
would feed her lunch, sit with her and show her the pictures of their children,
sharing with her the latest family news. He would patiently remind her who he was, explain
that they have been married for 52 years and that they have two daughters, a
son, and four beautiful grandchildren.
Before leaving, he would kiss her & tell her how much he
loved her & knowing she would never realize nor remember … that he had …
been there. His heartbroken friends
would ask him, Why do you keep going when she doesn’t even know who you are?
And he would always reply, “Because I know
who I am.” (Adopted
from Connections, 08-17-08)
The husband’s faithfulness to his wife – demonstrate his love and
trust in God.
Faith calls us to TRUST in Jesus and to live as His disciple, to
be like the Canaanite woman and follow Jesus no matter what life throws in our
path.
Jesus wants us to be like the Canaanite woman and pursue Him, no
matter what happens. Jesus marveled at
her faith, may Jesus one day marvel at our faith.
May God Be Praised!
Join me
and cry out from the depths of your heart to the Lord who hears us.
“Lord,
listen to my prayer: turn your ear to my appeal.” [Psalm 143]
God,
You are our refuge and our hope, we turn to you during this COVID 19 pandemic
and plead for Your intercession. In Your mercy and Your compassion “… grant eternal rest to the
dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick ….” [Collect from Mass
Time in Pandemic]
Provide
strength to the first responders and medical personnel, and wisdom to
government leaders. End this coronavirus
scourge. Bring Your light to all who
wander in the darkness of this pandemic and give us hope in Your eternal love
today and every day. Amen. [Dcn. George Kelly]
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