18th Week in Ordinary Time
09th August 2023 (Wednesday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 2
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Numbers 13:1-2, 25-14:1, 26-29, 34-35
In those days: The Lord spoke to Moses, [in the wilderness of Paran], saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hitites, Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” But Caleb quietened the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upwards, who have grumbled against me. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity for forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”
Psalm 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23 (R. see 4ab)
R/. O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. . A great prophet has arisen among us and God has visited his people!
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 15:21-28
At that time: Jesus went away and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Perseverance is rewarded!
Guidlines: Faith may not always meet with favourable responses and positive results. We may feel that God is not concerned for us and does not understand our needs. Persevere in such moments!{alertSuccess}
1. The Canaanite woman in the gospel Matthew 15. 21-28 stands before us as an example of a faith that is humble and persevering. There is nothing so special in her approaching Jesus for the sake of her possessed daughter.
2. Anyone in need may approach Jesus. That does not guarantee true and deep faith. It can be a shallow faith which is merely a favour-seeking request. On the contrary, the Canaanite woman demonstrates to us a faith that is genuine and exemplary. In all humility and trust, she cries out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David”.
3. Strangely, she is met with a strange response and reaction from the part of Jesus. Three kinds of Jesus’ response are noted: first, there is silence (but he did not answer her a word) – this can indicate an attitude of indifference and unconcern.
4. Then there is an indication of discrimination and exclusion (he answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house Israel). But she does not lose heart. She went and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me.
5. Finally, a very harsh and derogatory remark from Jesus, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” – an attitude of resentment and rejection.
6. But the Canaanite woman testifies to a commendable contrast response. In response to the silence of Jesus, she continues to cry after him. In response to exclusion by Jesus, she acknowledges him as the Lord of all, and the sure recourse for help. In response to the rejection by Jesus, she persists with utter humility, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”.
7. Note that she would not murmur or retort as the people of Israel do in the first reading. Whenever any little thing goes wrong, people can easily grumble and give up. But she would not murmur. Many may find fault with Jesus for his harshness. Perhaps such an insulting reply from Jesus was not warranted. Perhaps he wanted to test her faith.
8. Whatever it be, she got tested and testified. Even in times of humiliation and loss of hope, true faith perseveres. St Edith Stein always strove for this divine greatness. Though a brilliant German Jewish philosopher, she converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. She was killed in the Nazi gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1942.
Practice: At times, in our life also God appears to be indifferent, excluding and rejecting us. We may feel offended and not understood and not accepted. What then is our response.{alertSuccess}