Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 409
Lectionary: 409
The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,]
"Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,
which I am giving the children of Israel.
You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,
all of them princes."
After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,
met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel
in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,
made a report to them all,
and showed the fruit of the country
to the whole congregation.
They told Moses: "We went into the land to which you sent us.
It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.
However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,
and the towns are fortified and very strong.
Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.
Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,
and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan."
Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
"We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so."
But the men who had gone up with him said,
"We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us."
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
"The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
(the Anakim were a race of giants);
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them."
At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
"How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?
I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,
I will do to you just what I have heard you say.
Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.
Forty days you spent in scouting the land;
forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:
one year for each day.
Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.
I, the LORD, have sworn to do this
to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me:
here in the desert they shall die to the last man."
"Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,
which I am giving the children of Israel.
You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,
all of them princes."
After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,
met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel
in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,
made a report to them all,
and showed the fruit of the country
to the whole congregation.
They told Moses: "We went into the land to which you sent us.
It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.
However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,
and the towns are fortified and very strong.
Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.
Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,
and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan."
Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
"We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so."
But the men who had gone up with him said,
"We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us."
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
"The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
(the Anakim were a race of giants);
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them."
At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
"How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?
I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,
I will do to you just what I have heard you say.
Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.
Forty days you spent in scouting the land;
forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:
one year for each day.
Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.
I, the LORD, have sworn to do this
to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me:
here in the desert they shall die to the last man."
Responsorial
PsalmPS 106:6-7AB, 13-14,
21-22, 23
R.(4a) Remember
us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But soon they forgot his works;
they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
and tempted God in the wilderness.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But soon they forgot his works;
they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
and tempted God in the wilderness.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
AlleluiaLK 7:16
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, please
go here.
For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Cajetan, please go here.
Meditation: "Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you
desire"
Do
you ever feel "put-off" or ignored by the Lord?
This passage (Matthew 15:21) describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman, a foreigner who was not a member of the Jewish people, puts Jesus on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the woman to awaken faith in her.
This passage (Matthew 15:21) describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman, a foreigner who was not a member of the Jewish people, puts Jesus on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the woman to awaken faith in her.
Jesus
first tests the woman's faith
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles did not follow God's law and were excluded from God's covenant and favor with the people of Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. There is another reference to "dogs" in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus says to his disciples, "Do not give to dogs what is holy" (Matthew 7:6). Jesus tests this woman's faith to see if she is earnest in receiving holy things from the hand of a holy God. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles did not follow God's law and were excluded from God's covenant and favor with the people of Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. There is another reference to "dogs" in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus says to his disciples, "Do not give to dogs what is holy" (Matthew 7:6). Jesus tests this woman's faith to see if she is earnest in receiving holy things from the hand of a holy God. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
Seek
the Lord Jesus with expectant faith
Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with earnest faith - whether Jew or Gentile - was refused his help. Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith?
Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with earnest faith - whether Jew or Gentile - was refused his help. Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith?
"Lord
Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and pursue
you with indomitable persistence as this woman did. Increase my faith in your
saving power and deliver me from all evil and harm."
Daily
Quote from the early church fathers: The Mother of the Gentiles, by
Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century)
"After
our Lord departed from the Jews, he came into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. He
left the Jews behind and came to the Gentiles. Those whom he had left behind
remained in ruin; those to whom he came obtained salvation in their alienation.
And a woman came out of that territory and cried, saying to him, 'Have pity on
me, O Lord, Son of David!' O great mystery! The Lord came out from the Jews,
and the woman came out from her Gentile territory. He left the Jews behind, and
the woman left behind idolatry and an impious lifestyle. What they had lost,
she found. The one whom they had denied in the law, she professed through her
faith. This woman is the mother of the Gentiles, and she knew Christ through
faith. Thus on behalf of her daughter (the Gentile people) she entreated the
Lord. The daughter had been led astray by idolatry and sin and was severely possessed
by a demon." (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE
GOSPELS 58)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, MATTHEW 15:21-28
Weekday
(Numbers 13:1-2, 25 ̶ 14:1, 26-29a, 34-35; Psalm 106)
Weekday
(Numbers 13:1-2, 25 ̶ 14:1, 26-29a, 34-35; Psalm 106)
KEY VERSE: "O Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish" (v. 28).
TO KNOW: Jesus' mission was primarily to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (v. 24), but he was open to hearing the truth from people outside of the Jewish faith. Following a clash with the religious leaders who refused to believe in him, Jesus met a Syrophoenician woman (the area around Tyre and Sidon) whose faith was in sharp contrast with that of his own people. The woman addressed Jesus as "Lord" and begged him to heal her tormented daughter. Jesus told her that it was not right to take food meant for the "children" (the people of Israel) and feed it to the "dogs" (a contemptuous term for Gentiles). The woman persisted, saying that she was willing to take the crumbs that fell from the master's table. Jesus was impressed by this woman's great faith, and he healed her daughter that very moment.
TO LOVE: Do I attempt to understand people of other faith traditions?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to persist in prayer for my loved ones.
Optional Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, pope and companions,
martyrs
Sixtus II was pope from 257 to 258, following Stephen I as bishop of Rome. Sixtus was more conciliatory than his predecessor, who had broken off relations with Saint Cyprian over the question of whether lapsed Christians should be re-baptized before being allowed back into the Church. Sixtus was willing to let bishops decide what to do in their own areas and accepted both practices. Sixtus restored the relations with the African and Eastern churches, which had been broken off by his predecessor on the question of heretical baptism. In the persecutions under Emperor Valerian I in 258, numerous priests and bishops were put to death. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims. He was captured by soldiers while giving a sermon and perhaps beheaded right there, along with four deacons. He was buried in the same catacomb where he had been celebrating Mass when he was arrested. He died as a martyr.
Optional Memorial of Saint Cajetan, priest
Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene, known as Saint Cajetan, was born in 1480 at Vicenza, Italy, and was a Venetian nobleman. He studied law in Padua, and was offered governing posts, but turned them down for a religious vocation. In 1522, Cajetan founded a hospital in Venice for victims of incurable illness. Cajetan was aware of the need of reformation in the Church, and felt called to enter a religious community to serve the sick and poor. On 3 May 1524, with three others, including John Peter Caraffa, who later became Pope Paul IV, Cajetan formed the Congregation of Clerks Regular at Rome (Theatines), with the mission of fostering the Church's mission and reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. Cajetan founded a bank to help the poor and offered an alternative to usurers (loan sharks); it later became the Bank of Naples. Cajetan died in 1547 at Naples, Italy. He was canonized 1671 by Pope Clement X.
www.togetherwithgodsword.com
Wednesday 7 August 2019
Numbers 13:1-2, 25 – 14:1, 26-29, 34-35. Psalm 105(106):6-7,
13-14, 21-23. Matthew 15:21-28.
Lord, remember us, for the love you bear your people – Psalm
105(106):6-7, 13-14, 21-23.
‘Is it fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the
house-dogs?’
No one quite expected that people other than Israelites might
believe in you, Lord. Even those who were believers thought that you had come
only to show God’s faithfulness to his covenant with Israel. We have our own
equivalent situation today: even though we are ‘not of the house of Israel’, we
consider that you came for us. And so you did.
But we sometimes find ourselves presuming that certain types of
other people cannot come to you. After all, they’re not like us! They don’t
have the background; they don’t believe in all the things we do. How could you
mean anything to them? They’re not really religious, are they? Yet people from
all backgrounds desire healing for their family members, and even people beyond
the church find life in Jesus’ example. Let us not make the same mistake the
disciples did and presume to keep anyone from you.
Saint Cajetan
Saint of the Day for August 7
(October 1, 1480 – August 7, 1547)
 |
| Saint Cajetan \ sculptor: Pedro Alonso de los Ríos |
Saint Cajetan’s Story
Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary”
life—first as a lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman
Curia.
His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory
of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his
ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at
Venice. At Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community that
consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly censured
by his friends, who thought his action was a reflection on his family. He
sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them.
The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church
that was “sick in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the
best road to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy.
Together they founded a congregation known as the Theatines—from Teate [Chieti]
where their first superior-bishop had his see. One of the friends later became
Pope Paul IV.
They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was
wrecked when Emperor Charles V’s troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were
outstanding among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the
Protestant Reformation. Cajetan founded a monte de pieta—“mountain
or fund of piety”—in Naples, one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations
that lent money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help the
poor and protect them against usurers. Cajetan’s little organization ultimately
became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy.
Reflection
If Vatican II had been summarily stopped after its first session
in 1962, many Catholics would have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the
growth of the Church. Cajetan had the same feeling about the Council of Trent,
held from 1545 to 1563. But as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice,
with or without Trent or Vatican II. We open ourselves to God’s power in
whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and God’s will is done. God’s
standards of success differ from ours.
Lectio:
Matthew 15:21-28
Lectio Divina
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of everlasting goodness,
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise You.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise You.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 15:21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity
on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he
did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in
reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He
said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw
it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the
scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her
in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you
wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
3) Reflection
Context. The bread of the children and the great faith of
a Canaanite woman is the theme presented in the liturgical passage taken from
chapter 15 of Matthew, who proposes to the reader of his Gospel a further
deepening of faith in Christ. The episode is preceded by an initiative of the
Pharisees and scribes, who go down to Jerusalem and cause a dispute to take
place with Jesus, but which did not last long, because He, together with His disciples,
withdrew to go to the region of Tyre and Sidon. While He is on the way, a woman
from the pagan region comes to Him. This woman is presented by Matthew by the
name of “a Canaanite woman” who, in the light of the Old Testament, is
presented with great harshness. In the Book of Deuteronomy the inhabitants of
Canaan were considered people full of sins: evil and idolatrous people.
• The dynamic of the account. While Jesus carries out His activity in Galilee and is on the way toward Tyre and Sidon, a woman comes up to Him and begins to bother Him with a petition for help for her sick daughter. The woman addresses Jesus using the title “Son of David,” a title which sounds strange pronounced by a pagan and that could be justified because of the extreme situation in which the woman finds herself. It could be thought that this woman already believes in some way, in the person of Jesus as final Savior, but this is excluded because it is only in v. 28 that her act of faith is recognized precisely by Jesus. In the dialogue with the woman Jesus seems to show that distance and diffidence which reigned between the people of Israel and the pagans. On one side Jesus confirms to the woman the priority for Israel to have access to salvation, and before the insistent prayer of His interlocutor Jesus seems to withdraw, to be at a distance; an incomprehensible attitude for the reader, but in the intention of Jesus it expresses an act of pedagogical value. To the first invocation “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David” (v. 22) Jesus does not respond. To the second intervention, this time on the part of the disciples, who invite Him to listen to the woman’s prayer, He only expresses rejection that stresses that secular distance between the chosen people and the pagan people (vv. 23b-24). But at the insistence of the prayer of the woman who bows before Jesus, a harsh and mysterious response follows: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to little dogs” (v. 26). The woman goes beyond the harsh response of Jesus’ words and gets a small sign of hope: the woman recognizes that God’s plan being carried out by Jesus initially concerns the chosen people, and Jesus asks the woman to recognize that priority; the woman takes advantage of that priority to present a strong reason to obtain the miracle: “Ah yes, Lord, but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). The woman has exceeded the test of faith: “Woman, you have great faith” (v. 28); in fact, to the humble insistence of her faith corresponds a salvific gesture.
This episode addresses an invitation to every reader of the Gospel to have that interior attitude of “openness” toward everyone, believers or not, that is to say, availability and acceptance without distinction toward all people.
• The dynamic of the account. While Jesus carries out His activity in Galilee and is on the way toward Tyre and Sidon, a woman comes up to Him and begins to bother Him with a petition for help for her sick daughter. The woman addresses Jesus using the title “Son of David,” a title which sounds strange pronounced by a pagan and that could be justified because of the extreme situation in which the woman finds herself. It could be thought that this woman already believes in some way, in the person of Jesus as final Savior, but this is excluded because it is only in v. 28 that her act of faith is recognized precisely by Jesus. In the dialogue with the woman Jesus seems to show that distance and diffidence which reigned between the people of Israel and the pagans. On one side Jesus confirms to the woman the priority for Israel to have access to salvation, and before the insistent prayer of His interlocutor Jesus seems to withdraw, to be at a distance; an incomprehensible attitude for the reader, but in the intention of Jesus it expresses an act of pedagogical value. To the first invocation “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David” (v. 22) Jesus does not respond. To the second intervention, this time on the part of the disciples, who invite Him to listen to the woman’s prayer, He only expresses rejection that stresses that secular distance between the chosen people and the pagan people (vv. 23b-24). But at the insistence of the prayer of the woman who bows before Jesus, a harsh and mysterious response follows: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to little dogs” (v. 26). The woman goes beyond the harsh response of Jesus’ words and gets a small sign of hope: the woman recognizes that God’s plan being carried out by Jesus initially concerns the chosen people, and Jesus asks the woman to recognize that priority; the woman takes advantage of that priority to present a strong reason to obtain the miracle: “Ah yes, Lord, but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). The woman has exceeded the test of faith: “Woman, you have great faith” (v. 28); in fact, to the humble insistence of her faith corresponds a salvific gesture.
This episode addresses an invitation to every reader of the Gospel to have that interior attitude of “openness” toward everyone, believers or not, that is to say, availability and acceptance without distinction toward all people.
4) Personal questions
• The disturbing word of God invites you to break open your
smugness and all of your small plans. Are you capable of accepting all the
brothers and sisters who come to you?
• Are you aware of your poverty to be able, like the Canaanite woman, to entrust yourself to Jesus’ word of salvation?
• Are you aware of your poverty to be able, like the Canaanite woman, to entrust yourself to Jesus’ word of salvation?
5) Concluding Prayer
Lord, do not thrust me away from Your presence;
do not take away from me Your spirit of holiness.
Give me back the joy of Your salvation,
sustain in me a generous spirit. (Ps 51:11-12)
do not take away from me Your spirit of holiness.
Give me back the joy of Your salvation,
sustain in me a generous spirit. (Ps 51:11-12)
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