Mass Readings
Reading 1 – Isaiah 56:1,6-7
Psalm – Psalm 67
Reading 2 – St Paul to Rom 11:13-15,29-32
Gospel – Matthew 15:21-28
Reflection
What attracts us to this Canaanite woman in the Gospel is her amazing faith in Jesus. She doesn’t give up pleading for her daughter to be cured by him. Even though she is aware that as a Canaanite she is held in little regard in the eyes of the Jewish people of the time, and even though initially there is an uncharacteristic reluctance by Jesus to respond to her request, nonetheless without anger or rancour she continues to plead for her daughter to be healed by him.
She is not discouraged and she can’t afford to be. Indeed she is motivated by the love she has for her daughter, a love that is making her faith in Jesus even stronger and real. Her faith is more than just having a knowledge about Jesus. She has a deep trust in Jesus that there is a heart within him that is deeply compassionate and will respond to her need. In the end Jesus is moved by her trust in what he can do for her and he makes her daughter well again.
When we see the example of this woman pleading on her knees for her daughter, it is also to encourage us to pray to be likewise. We too at various times in our lives face all kinds of difficulties and trials as we do at this particular time of the COVID 19 pandemic. We too can be tempted to become discouraged or even despair in the face of what we are experiencing. It is to pray with trusting faith to the Lord who is close to us. It is in part to pray for that kind of faith that will hold us steady in the midst of uncertainty. It is to pray for the kind of faith that will enable us to persevere in living lives of integrity even when things do not turn out as we would wish them to be at the time. As disciples of Jesus we pray also for the kind of faith that will give encouragement and hope to those we encounter in the midst of daily life.
Fr Martin Ashe
Parish Priest