🙏 SUNDAY INSIGHTS - THE 20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 🙏

First Reading - Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

Second Reading - Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

Gospel - Matthew 15:21-28 

There is a group of people in India called "Christ-bhakta" which means devotees of Jesus. For different reasons these people are not baptized. However, one thing that I personally admire about them is their deep faith that they have in Jesus. When I first saw them, their devotion and faith in Jesus touched me a lot and even challenged my faith sometimes a little. superficial. He challenged me because, having been born and raised in a Catholic family, I sometimes risk taking things for granted and I don't delve into my relationship with God as I would and should. The readings of the day invite us to examine the path of our faith, not to take it for granted, for our faith to become as great as that of the woman of the Gospel.

The first reading presents a very inclusive picture of what constitutes children of God. For most Jews, only those who were Jews were children of God, while others were excluded. The prophet Isaiah shows that no one is excluded from being a child of God, as long as he clings to the Lord and keeps his covenant. Clinging to the Lord means: willingness to serve and love the Lord and always remain his servants. In short, the first reading invites everyone to a life of justice and faith, adhering to the Lord and observing his commandments.

The gospel embodies the message of the first reading. The Canaanite woman, even though she was a foreigner and not a Jew, had great faith in Jesus. She comes with a request for her daughter and the reaction of the disciples and of Jesus projects the mentality of excluding others. At first Jesus ignores her; secondly, Jesus answers his request with harsh words: seemingly surprising behavior on the part of Jesus. Why does Jesus act this way? Jesus does this to show how Gentiles and non-Jews demonstrate greater faith than the chosen people. The Canaanite woman stands out as an example of faith for the chosen people.

The second reading compares the chosen people (the Jews) with others who come to faith. Paul clarifies that God's grace is never withdrawn from the elect  and is given to all who believe in Jesus.

Dear friends, with our baptism we have become members of the universal Church. Through our baptism, we are also given the gift of faith. However, it is everyone's responsibility to grow our faith accompanied by God's grace. We find in the gospel that the woman demonstrated great faith, even greater than the disciples who were with Jesus. It could also be the same for us, despite our being with Jesus thanks to the baptism and spiritual gifts received, we may not progress in our faith journey due to our laxity and unwillingness to love and serve him with faith. 

Today we are invited to cling to Jesus in faith and keep his commandments. How can we do it? Certainly, through our prayer life and our righteous life.