19 August 2023 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

The Gospel Reading today seems to be quite challenging and it also highlights questions within ourselves. How can Jesus respond and react to this woman who has need and the need that she has is not for herself but for her child?

And as we look at the Readings, dear friends, all our Readings today speaks about how the message of the Gospel is given to everyone. Not only to privileged few but to everyone. And as Christians, we are called to open our minds and our hearts to accept people who are different than us. To accept people who may think differently than we do.

And the First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah says: “Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and love him in his name and his servant, all who observe the Sabbath and not profaning it and cling to my covenant, these I will bring to my Holy Mountain.” And this place of encounter, dear friends, this place where God wants to meet us is sacred. And no one has any privilege in access to that mountain of God. God reaches out to each and every one of us differently, inviting us to respond to this love that He gives to us.

But as we walk in this journey of discipleship, there will be challenges, there will be obstacles. And sometimes when we go through this journey in our Christian discipleship, it can be demanding, it can be painful and it can be difficult. But I am sure, dear friends, each and every one of us in our journey of Christian discipleship, we may have suffered hardships and challenges. And we have to ask ourselves that in these challenges are we growing in our faith or are we getting bitter with our faith?

If you look at the Gospel today, of how the woman was treated, perhaps we can say that she can become a bitter person. But on the other hand, we see how she responds. That woman of great faith put her faith and trust because of the promises of God in her life and the people of Israel. It is quite interesting. You see Jesus was leaving, left Nazareth and was withdrawing from the regions of Tire and Sidon. And she comes out from that place, from that district and started shouting at Him.

And here you see, dear friends, of how she was able to see what others in that region was not able to see. And because of some dispute between the Pharisees, Jesus moved away. But we see within that context and that situation, this woman comes from that place, reaching out to Jesus wanting Him to heal her daughter.

Let us ask ourselves. Very often we do not recognise what is before us. We do not recognise God’s presence in our life and the presence of one another because we maybe have been too clouded with our knowledge, with our experiences and in doing so, we are unable to see the glory of God before us.

The first thing, dear friends, that we need to do is to acknowledge God’s presence by being open to experiences, the people and to that encounter that God wants to give us.

Secondly, if you look at the woman, the Canaanite woman as well. When she approaches Jesus, the way that Jesus treated her perhaps we may find that it is not becoming of Jesus. That He should not have treated her that way because He says that He “came only for the lost sheep of Israel.” But when He responded in that way, dear friends, we see how His disciples too responded that because “she is shouting after us, give her what she wants.” Rather than encountering and looking into the needs of the woman, they too wanted to get rid of the problem rather than that experience of that woman before them. And here to, dear friends, we need to also embrace that whatever happens in our lives, whatever happens in the situations around us, we need to ask ourselves: “Are we present to that situation or are we resolving the situation as a mere problem to be solved?”

Because when we look at people’s encounters, when people go through difficulties and challenges of live, it is easy to find solution and to solve their problem rather than being there accompanying them along the way, leading them and guiding them in those difficult moments. But for Jesus we know that Jesus knows what He is doing. And because of what has happened, we see that Jesus uses this moment to draw the faith from the Canaanite woman, to teach His disciples of what it means being a true disciple. But we see, dear friends, with that attitude of the Canaanite woman, she was not asking things for herself. She was asking for the good of her child who was possessed.

And sometimes when we look at our own life, we have so many burdens to carry because so many people have asked us to pray for them. People have asked us for help. People have asked us to do our part in order to respond in love but do we shirk that responsibility? Do we allow those experiences to be passing rather than being involved, rather than being present? But even when she was treated unfairly, the faith of the Canaanite woman is remarkable. Because as you see, when Jesus says “I was only sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel”, the woman came kneeling at His feet and she said: “Lord, help me.”

I am not sure, dear friends, when we are confronted with situations like the Canaanite woman, what will be our reaction? If people come and disagree or perhaps don’t think the way that we do, what will be our response? Do we get bitter and move away and not wanting to do anything with the person anymore? Or trusting in God’s promises, do we allow Him to take charge, knowing that He is a God who loves, He is a God who heals, He is a God who brings forth liberation and trusting in what we are able to see? Like the Canaanite woman, are we able to throw ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to take control and ask Him to take charge?

And for that, dear friends, we need humility. We need humility to humble ourselves before God, asking God to help us in that situation and to trust in His providence, trust in His plan for us. And very often when we are confronted with the situation like the Canaanite woman, we want to take charge, we want to do things the way that we want to do things. The Lord invites us, even though it may be challenging, even though it may not be the way that we think, how we should react, to trust God’s mercy, God’s promises and to submit ourselves in abandonment to the will and the plan of God.

And because of that abandoning of herself to the Lord, to Jesus, we see how her faith was restored, how her daughter was healed, how the faith of the disciples were also reawakened and how Jesus was able to highlight that gift of faith that has been granted to that woman.

You and I, dear friends, have this opportunity, have received this gift of faith that God has blessed us with. Do we take them for granted? Do we take our faith for granted by just allowing ourselves to do what we know or what we have received rather than growing in a personal relationship with Him?

And thirdly, after that encounter, after Jesus drew her faith and made her realise, He affirmed her and said: “Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.” And from that moment, her daughter was well again.

Here, dear friends, we need to be reminded once again that the promises of God may not always be the way that we want it to be. It all happens in God’s time, according to God’s schedule and not our schedule. And we must allow ourselves that time of restlessness, that time of desolation, that time of being in the desert so that God may be able to draw the faith in us. In every situation and circumstances of life, dear friends, God’s love reaches out to us and not only to us but to everyone. By doing so, we must be able to recognise the goodness of the people around us. We must be able to recognise that in those moments of challenges and difficulties, that we must be willing to abandon ourselves to God’s promises, to trust in His promise that He will not abandon us, that His promises is always faithful.

And as we look at the Responsorial Psalm today, “Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.” In our moments of challenges, in our moments of desolation, in our moments where we find difficult to keep our faith alive, the Lord invites us to praise Him. The Lord invites us to have a persevering faith like the Canaanite woman. And I am sure, dear friends, each and every one of us have our own crosses to carry.

As we see the Canaanite woman had to sacrifice herself in terms of humbling herself for the good of her child, and I am sure many of our parents here do the same. I am sure many of you do the same for your loved ones. I am sure many of you do the same for people who are close to you. And I am sure many of you do that for the church as well, that you allow yourself to be humbled and not living up to the pride and ego that you have but to submit yourself before God, trusting that His promises is far, far greater than the promises that you have for yourself.

And when we are able to do that, dear friends, when we are able to sacrifice, trusting that in everything God is there, God will be there journeying together with us. And for that, to build a community, to build a family, to build a church, there are many, many people who sacrifice themselves just like how the Canaanite woman sacrificed herself for her daughter. Let us praise and thank God, dear friends, for all the people around us, especially in our church community, especially the church at large. Because sometimes we do not know the struggles and the difficulties they go through but let us assure them with our prayers, let us assure them with our presence and let us assure them with our comfort so that in everything, God may be glorified and we as a community can praise God with all our hearts, with all our minds.

And as the Responsorial Psalm says once again:

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

Let us praise the Lord, dear friends, with all our lives. Even though in challenging moments, in moments that are difficult, in moments that are joyful, that we may turn to the Lord and trust in His promises for us and lead us to a greater awareness of God’s love in our lives and for the life of one another.

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