Sunday August 20th 2023 - The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 56:1,6-7/ Psalm 66(67)/ Romans 11:13-15,29-32/ Matthew 15:21-28

Nearly every day we hear in the news the harrowing accounts of refugees suffering and dying as they try to find safe havens fleeing from war, poverty, and injustice in their own countries. There is great pressure on governments to stop these unfortunate people from entering certain countries. There is an expectation that the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel should provide a sort of barrier preventing the flow of migrants into and around Europe. We can only guess at the conditions that these people face at home for them to spend all they have, risking their own and their families lives, to take a chance on a dangerous passage to who knows where?

As political structures break down, as food and water become scarcer, as more and more countries become unable to provide for their populations these migrations will increase. Unable to survive in their countries of origin people will seek to travel to countries that can provide safety, food, shelter, and healthcare. People who are suffering like this are not to be denied their basic needs. All of creation belongs to all of us equally no matter who we are or where we were born.

Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, and he is to be found in each one of us. One day we will be held to account about how we treated God when he needed us. We must feed God when he is hungry, give him drink when he is thirsty, clothe him when he is naked and look after him when he is homeless, sick or in prison. We cannot pick and choose who we help, God is there in all the needy and we are called to share our good fortune with those who need our help.

The readings today are about being inclusive, how salvation is universal and should mould our attitude towards those we might view as minorities. Yes, Israel, the chosen people, where special to God but it is from them that God’s promise of salvation is delivered to all. The people must learn how to accept foreigners in their midst. Through the chosen people God’s endless love flows out to all no matter where they live, how they live or what they believe. God seeks to call all people back to him and he does it through his Church, established by Jesus in the heart of the chosen people of Israel, and now in the work he does through us.

In the ancient first reading the prophet makes it clear that those outside of the chosen Jewish nation will be welcomed to the holy mountain with people of all backgrounds making their way to one temple to worship. This is reflected in the psalm, a prayer familiar to the people long before Jesus was born. It speaks of all nations learning of God’s saving help and praising God. No one is beyond the power of God and his desire for the salvation of all people. In the letter to the Roman church Paul reminds the Christians originating from outside of the Jewish tradition that their good fortune came from the initial rejection of Jesus by his own people. The church is open to all and will remain open to Paul’s own people who sees their rejection of Jesus as only temporary.

A shallow reading of the gospel passage can give the impression that Jesus is being intolerant both to a woman and to someone from outside of his own community. As with all scripture we need to read it prayerfully and look for the many levels that God talks to us on through his word. We do not know the name of the Canaanite woman, but she is a fascinating person who teaches us much. She is a woman in a male dominated society, a foreigner in a Jewish country. She recognises Jesus as special and able to help her. On encountering what appeared to be his reluctance to even engage with her, the woman shows remarkable courage, faith and persistence, winning not only the attention of Jesus but becoming one of the most highly commended characters in the gospels.

Jesus uses the encounter with the Canaanite woman to highlight the intolerance people had for foreigners and women and to contrast her remarkable and persistent faith with the hardness of heart and general rejection he encountered from his own people, a people that had long awaited the promised messiah but when he came refused to see him for who he was. The message for us is the same, we cannot sit back in our privileged and chosen position ignoring the plight of those perceived to be from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures. We must reach out to all bringing God’s compassion to everyone who needs it.

It is the purpose of the church, our purpose, to bring the values of Christianity to all nations. Not, as sometimes happened in the past, by imposition but by working with other traditions and not against them. God is to be found in all faiths and none, there are no limits to the work of God but there are barriers that are put up by humanity. In breaking down these barriers, not by force, but through persistence in prayer, support and faith, the salvation won by Jesus on the cross can be brought to the many that it is meant for.

We are a privileged and chosen people, privileged because of the time and place we live and chosen because we have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Christ. The readings today warn us not to become complacent in our privilege which leads to a hardening of hearts towards others. We are chosen to be instruments of the inclusivity of God’s love and to bring his salvation to all humanity not just those we deem to be worthy of it. Those who society views as outsiders are loved by God as much as anyone, what we do to others and for others we do to and for God. Let us not reject the love God gives us but use it to bring justice and integrity into the world, displaying the persistent faith and courage seen in the Canaanite woman of today’s gospel.

God Bless, Brendan.