Wednesday
18th Week in Ordinary Time
John Mary Vianney
Introduction: With age-old love I have loved you.
To a people that has almost, as a whole, deserted God, Jeremiah gives the assurance that God will never be unfaithful to them. There will be a remnant that responds to God’s love. The clue to this is as simple and tremendous as this: God loves his people, the one from the past and that of the present. And so, he loves us also. He loves us with a love that does not wear out. His affection remains constant.
►1st Reading: Jer 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 Reading Introduction: O woman, great is your faith!
There are some obvious problems with the story of the Canaanite woman. The words of Jesus sound harsh and discriminating against non-Jews. Some exegetes see in it an exchange of wits between the woman and Jesus, reflecting the prejudices of their time, and yet, fundamentally, revealing that salvation is for all without discrimination and prejudice wherever faith is found. The way this story is told reflects the problem of the primitive Church whether to accept non-Jewish converts. Everyone who believes may eat from the Lord’s table and is fed more than crumbs.
►Gospel: Mt 15:21–28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Now a Canaanite woman came from those borders and began to cry 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 the little dogs.” The woman replied, “It is true, sir, but even the little dogs 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
“I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.”
Sometimes what I think I should be about
is not really what God wants of me.
The only way I can know what
I’m supposed to be doing in life
is to look at the needs of the people around me.
Then, like Jesus, I must respond.
PRAYER
Father of all,
long ago you chose the people of Israel
to make your name known to all the nations.
Your Son, Jesus Christ made it clear
that forgiveness and the fullness of life are the share
of all who believe in him.
Make your Church truly a place of encounter
for all those who grope for you,
that all obstacles and barriers may be removed
and that the riches of all nations and cultures
may reveal the thousand faces
of the love you have shown us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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