DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Sunday, August 17, 2014 20th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 4 (Green) Readings: Is 56:1, 6-7; Ps 67:2-8; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Matt 21-28 Response: O God, let all the nations praise you. Rosary: Glorious Mysteries Key Verse: You have great faith. Let your desire be granted. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Clare of Montefalco Birth: 1268 - Death: 1308 Clare was born at Montefalco, Italy, around 1268. As a young woman she joined a convent of Franciscan tertiaries. This group established Holy Cross Convent at Montefalco in 1290, adopting the Rule of St. Augustine. Clares sister Joan was the abbess of this community, but at her death Clare succeeded her. She led an austere life, being particularly devoted to the Passion of Christ and His Cross. When Clare died in 1308, an image of the Cross was found imprinted on her heart, and her body remained incorrupt. Whe was canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. Her feast day is August 17th. The life of St. Clare reminds us that we are all called to a life of prayer and dedication. Still, we must not expect or anticipate special favors. We are to be satisfied with the simple relationship we establish with God. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 1 Thus says Yahweh: Make fair judgement your concern, act with justice, for soon my salvation will come and my saving justice be manifest. 6 As for foreigners who adhere to Yahweh to serve him, to love Yahwehs name and become his servants, all who observe the Sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant: 7 these I shall lead to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 2 Then the earth will acknowledge your ways, and all nations your power to save. 3 Let the nations praise you, God, let all the nations praise you. 4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy, for you judge the world with justice, you judge the peoples with fairness, you guide the nations on earth.Pause 5 Let the nations praise you, God, let all the nations praise you. 6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God has blessed us. 7 May God continue to bless us, and be revered by the whole wide world. 5 Let the nations praise you, God, let all the nations praise you. 6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God has blessed us. READING 2, Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 13 Let me say then to you gentiles that, as far as I am an apostle to the gentiles, I take pride in this work of service; 14 and I want it to be the means of rousing to envy the people who are my own blood-relations and so of saving some of them. 15 Since their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, do you know what their re-acceptance will mean? Nothing less than life from the dead! 29 There is no change of mind on Gods part about the gifts he has made or of his choice. 30 Just as you were in the past disobedient to God but now you have been shown mercy, through their disobedience; 31 so in the same way they are disobedient now, so that through the mercy shown to you they too will receive mercy. 32 God has imprisoned all human beings in their own disobedience only to show mercy to them all. GOSPEL, Matthew 15:21-28 21 Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And suddenly out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, Lord, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil. 23 But he said not a word in answer to her. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, saying, Give her what she wants, because she keeps shouting after us. 24 He said in reply, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. 25 But the woman had come up and was bowing low before him. Lord, she said, help me. 26 He replied, It is not fair to take the childrens food and throw it to little dogs. 27 She retorted, Ah yes, Lord; but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters table. 28 Then Jesus answered her, Woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted. And from that moment her daughter was well again. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection. Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen. ON READING 1: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 (Worship Open to All) These chapters make up the third part of the book of Isaiah, sometimes called “Third Isaiah”. It consists of prophetic visions and oracles about the new Zion and the nations of the earth. The variety of style and content here makes it difficult to identify any clear structure: the sacred writer seems to have drawn these oracles together, apparently content that they are all to do with the End and all refer to the whole world and not just to Israel. But he has carefully positioned chapter 61 in the middle, making it the high-point of these chapters. Also, 56:1-8 and 66:18-24, which stress the universality of justice and worship, are very appropriately positioned at start and finish. To make this part easier to read, we have divided it into three sections in this edition. The first (56:1-59:21) is a series of oracles that show salvation being extended to all mankind, even though the sins of the people of God will cause delays. In the second (60:1-64:11), the salvation that the Lord will provide is proclaimed to all the nations from Jerusalem. And the third section (65:1-66:24) has as its theme the judgment of God, handed down to each according to his or her merits, be it punishment for sin, or salvation. Historically, the oracles have to do with the years following the return from exile after Cyrus issued his decree of repatriation (539 BC). It was for Judah a time for “beginning again”. God sent messages of hope to raise the Jews’ spirits during their years in exile and on their return, when they were confronted by a scene of devastation. They cannot fail to see that, from now on, peace and salvation are linked with a return to God, conversion, the practice of righteousness, and holiness. This means that the horizon of divine salvation extends to include the whole world, extending beyond the narrow limits of Jewish nationalism. When the prophetic texts speak of Zion, they see it as the center of a new view of mankind, as a source of light for all nations. The new Jerusalem stands for a new order, as it will in the Revelation to John. Although all the energies of repatriates are focused on the rebuilding of the temple (60:7-13), the message here is that the ultimate goal is not material reconstruction, for the throne of God is to be found in heaven, and the earth is only his footstool (66:1-2). Hope in a glorious future is not measured in terms of external institutions--in the monarchy (which does not exist), or in any other human authority, or in force of arms. Even divine worship, and the rules and regulations to do with fasting and sacrifices, will be cleansed of the old formalism (58:1-14). God will act directly to save his people (62:2-12). The new horizon opened up by “Third Isaiah” has its parallel in Haggai and Zechariah, and, above all, it prepares the way for the still-distant eschatological vision found in the Revelation to John. The new section looks forward to a salvation that is open to everyone who practises righteousness (56:1-12). However, the first announcement of this is put on hold, as it were, due to the sins of the people of God; these delay the manifestation of God’s salvific power, for he refuses to hearken to the prayers of the ungodly (57:1-21). Therefore, first and foremost, the prophet issues a call to conversion (58: 1-14), while promising that the Lord, who is faithful to his Covenant, will reward people according to their actions: he will punish those who are faithless and redeem those who return to him (59:1-21). In the restored Jerusalem, the temple will begin to open its doors to all peoples. What we were told at the start of the book (cf. 2:2-5) would happen “in the latter days” is beginning to happen: the temple of the Lord will be a house of prayer for those who previously could not enter it; it will be open to all peoples. The old rulings (Lev 22:25; Deut 23:2-9) did not permit eunuchs or foreigners to take part in the assembly of Israel (a similar approach is found in Ezra 9:1-12 and Nehemiah 9:1-2); but this oracle displays a much more open and universalist attitude (cf. V/is 3:14):there is no objection to eunuchs and foreigners provided that they observe the sabbath and the Covenant (cf. vv. 2, 4,6). Blood ties are no longer the criteria for membership of the community of the people of God: now it suffices that a person keep to the moral teaching laid down in the old Covenant, and worship the true God. The mission of the temple, rebuilt by the exiles after their return with its open invitation to all without exception to come and worship God as part of his people, will reach its fullness in the redemption wrought by Christ Jesus. When he cleanses the temple (Mt 21:12-13 and par.), appealing to the words of v. 6, this prophecy will be fulfilled. ON READING 2: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 (The New Chosen People, The Conversion of the Jews - Continuation) We all yearn for the fulfillment of these words--threatening yet consoling -- which Christ addressed to the scribes and Pharisees: For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Mt 23:39). Together with the prophets and the Apostle, the Church awaits the day, known to God alone, when all peoples will call on God with one voice and serve him with one accord (Zeph 3:9) (Vatican II, Nostra Aetate, 4). The conversion of the Jews is a secret -- a mystery, the text says (v. 25) -- hidden in the future, which will come about when the Incarnation of the Word achieves its ultimate purpose. This conversion will follow on that of the Gentiles, which will be as it were a prelude to it. Jesus has foretold that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Lk 21:24; cf. note on same), which in some way suggests that the Jews will be converted at the end of time. However, when the Church in its preaching touches on the main signs of the end of the world, it only refers to the proclamation of the Gospel throughout the world, to apostasy and to the Antichrist, but it has nothing to say about the conversion of the Jews (cf. St Pius V Catechism, I, 8, 7). What the Church does do, and what we should do, is to pray the Lord to listen to its prayers that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption (Roman Missal, Good Friday Liturgy, Prayer of the Faithful). The same thing is happening, St. Paul explains, now that the Gospel is being preached. The people of Israel in general are not accepting it and are not becoming part of the Church; only a small number of Jews have believed, and these are the remnant. of Israel, chosen by God so that in them the promises might be kept. The conversion of Paul himself is an example and an earnest of this return of the people of Israel to their God, in line with the invitation that Hosea addressed to them: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity (Hos 14:2). Throughout the history of the Church lapses of this type have occurred, with a consequent breakdown in morality. Whenever this happens, those Christians who stay true to the faith may, like Elijah, feel inclined to despair; but they should react with a realistic and vigilant optimism and not indulge in useless lamentation. In the presence of God, they should reflect on the fact that God actually wants to use them and their holy lives to turn the situation around: A secret, an open secret: these world crises are sanctity crises. God wants a handful of men of his own in every human activity. And then...pax Christi in regno Christi--the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 301). God never goes back on anything he promises; therefore he continues to call the Jews to enter the chosen people. He does not take account of their disobedience or their sins: he will love them with an everlasting love, as he promised the patriarchs and in line with the merits accruing to them for their fidelity (cf. Rom 9:4-5). It is this very immutability of Gods love that makes it possible for all Israel (v. 26) to be saved. Gods calling, which is eternal, cannot cease; but we for our part can reject his call. The immutability of Gods plan is reassuring to us: it means that even if we abandon him at any point, we can always return to our earlier fidelity: he is still there, waiting for us. ON THE GOSPEL: Matthew 15:21-28 (The Canaanite Woman) In today’s text, Jesus meets a foreign woman, something forbidden by the religion of that time. At first Jesus would not pay attention to her, but the woman insisted and got what she wanted. This text helps us to understand how Jesus went about knowing and putting into practice the will of God. A division of the text to help with the reading: Mt 15: 21-28Mt 15: 21-22: The pained cry of the woman Mt 15: 23-24: The strange silence of Jesus and the reaction of the disciples Mt 15: 25-26: The repeated request of the woman and Jesus’ renewed refusal Mt 15: 27-28: The third try of the woman who obtains the healing of her daughter. Matthew’s Gospel, written about 85 AD, is addressed to a community of pious and observant Jews, converted to faith in Jesus. After Jesus’ example, they continued to live according to the traditions of the Jewish people, observing the Law of Moses in its fullness. But now in the 80s they find themselves in an ambivalent situation. After the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD), the Pharisees, their racial brothers, had started to reorganise Judaism, and, in the name of fidelity to that same Law of Moses, sought to block the ever increasing spread Christianity. They came to the point of expelling them from the synagogues. This unforeseen hostility brought the community of Christian Jews into deep crisis. Both the Pharisees and the Christians claimed to be faithful to the law of God. Who was right? On whose side was God? To whom did the inheritance of the Jewish people belong, to the synagogue or to the ecclesia? * It is precisely to encourage and support this group of Jewish-Christians that Matthew writes his Gospel. He writes to confirm them in the faith by showing that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the culmination of the whole history of the Old Testament. He writes to strengthen them in the midst of hostility, helping them to overcome the trauma of the break with the brothers. He writes to call them to a new practice of life, showing them the way to a new form of justice, better than that of the Pharisees. * In this context, the episode of the Canaanite woman served to show the community how this same Jesus took concrete steps to go beyond the limitations of a religion turned in on itself and how he went about discerning the will of God beyond the traditional scheme. Matthew 15: 21: Jesus moves away from the Jewish territory. In the discussion concerning what is pure and what is not, Jesus had taught that which was contrary to the tradition of the ancients, declaring all foods to be clean, and helped the people and the disciples free themselves of the chains of the laws on purity (Mt 15: 1-20). Now, in this episode of the Canaanite woman, he moves away from Galilee, goes beyond the frontiers of the national territory and welcomes a foreign woman who did not belong to the people and with whom it was forbidden to talk. The Gospel of Mark informs us that Jesus did not want to be known. He wanted to remain anonymous. But it is evident that his fame had already preceded him (Mk 7: 24). The people knew him and a woman begins to present him with a request. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its north-eastern border. In Jesus time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles. Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a Canaanite; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a Syrophoenician (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8 : 5-13). The Canaanite womans prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David) -- which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: Have mercy on me. Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility. Matthew 15: 22: The anguished cry of the woman. The woman was from another race and religion. She begins to beg for the healing of her daughter who was possessed by an unclean spirit. The pagans had no problem having recourse to Jesus. The Jews, however, had problems co-existing with the pagans! The Law forbade them to make contact with a person of another religion or race. Matthew 15: 23-24: The strange silence of Jesus and the reaction of the disciples. The woman shouts, but Jesus does not respond. A strange attitude! Because, if there is one sure thing throughout the Bible, from beginning to end, it is that God always listens to the cry of the oppressed. But here Jesus does not listen. He does not want to listen. Why? Even the disciples are surprised by Jesus’ attitude and ask him to say something to the woman. They want to get rid of that shouting: Give her what she wants, they said, because she is shouting after us. Jesus explains his silence, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. His silence is connected with an awareness of his mission and his fidelity to the law of God. The passive form shows that the subject of the verb’s action is the Father. It is as though he had said, The Father does not want me to listen to this woman, because He has sent me only to the lost sheep of Israel! For the same reason, at the time of Matthew’s writing of the Gospel, the Pharisees were saying, We cannot make contact with pagans! What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28 : 19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46). Matthew 15: 25-26: The woman repeats her request and Jesus again refuses her. The woman is not worried by the refusal of Jesus. The love of a mother for her sick daughter does not take notice of religious rules or the reaction of other people, but seeks healing wherever her intuition leads her to a solution, namely, in Jesus! She draws closer, she throws herself at Jesus’ feet and goes on begging, Lord, help me. Faithful to the rules of his religion, Jesus answers with a parable and says that it is not right to take the bread of one’s children and give it to dogs. The parallel is taken from everyday life. Even today, we find many children and dogs in the houses of the poor. Jesus says that no mother will take bread from the mouths of her children and give it to dogs. Concretely, the children are the Jewish people and the dogs are the pagans. End of story! Obedient to the Father and faithful to his mission, Jesus goes on his way and takes no notice of the pleading of the woman! This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the womans faith that she deserves exceptional praise: Great is your faith! Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 101). Matthew 15: 27-28: At the third attempt, the woman obtains the healing of her daughter. The woman will not yield. She agrees with Jesus, but she amplifies the parallel and applies it to her case, Ah, yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table. She simply draws the conclusion from that image, showing that in the houses of the poor (and so also in the house of Jesus) the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of the children. Most probably, Jesus himself as a young boy would have given bits of bread to dogs that roamed under the table where he ate with his parents. And in Jesus’ house, that is, in the Christian community of Matthew’s time, at the end of the first century, there were twelve baskets full left over (Mt 14:20) for the dogs, that is, for the pagans! Jesus’ reaction is immediate, Woman, you have great faith! The woman got what she asked for. From that moment her daughter was healed. The reason Jesus responded was that he understood that the Father wanted him to grant the woman’s request. The meeting with the Canaanite woman freed him from the racial prison and opened him to the whole of humanity. This means that Jesus discovered the will of the Father by listening to the reactions of people. This pagan woman’s attitude opened new horizons for Jesus and helped him take an important step in the fulfilment of the Father’s plan. The gift of life and salvation is for all who seek life and who try to free themselves from the chains that bind vital energy. This episode helps us to perceive a little of the mystery that surrounded the person of Jesus, the manner in which he was in communion with the Father and how he discovered the will of the Father in the events of life. FINAL PRAYERS: Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practise the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit of God, fill my life with your love, give hope to my heart. Strengthen my family, renew our world. Shower upon us all the gifts Jesus longs to give to the Church and to our waiting world. Bless us all…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! Amen. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 23:10:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015