Cycle A - Year 1:  

20 August 2017:  Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

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

Gospel:Please Read  Matthew 15:21-28

A great and persistent faith!

There is this popular dictum that says like this: "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!". It inspires those struggling with anything. And it would seem that it has also a biblical connection.

Let us find that out in the Gospel narrative for this Sunday. Here is another beautiful story of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and His mission to help those who come to Him with trust and confidence.

The Gospel story is about a Canaanite woman who calls out to Jesus to beg our Lord to heal her daughter tormented by a demon. Now the Jews consider Canaanites as foreigners and pagans. That is why Jesus did not immediately respond to the woman's plea. Instead, Jesus reminded her that He came first to seek out the lost sheep of the house of Israel or Jews, and not a foreigner like her.

The story goes on that in spite of this mild snub, the Canaanite woman persists, draws even closer to our Lord, pays Him homage and pleads, "Lord, help me."

Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." Thus, her persistence paid off in the end.

Now then, recall that in all the Gospel accounts, Jesus at times responds immediately to a request for help or healing. But sometimes He delays. Yet always He offers His blessing to those who come to Him with faith and trust.

We need to remember that God has a perfect timing, which may differ from our own expectations. Because He knows the depths of our hearts better than we know them ourselves. God knows when a person is ready to receive a particular grace, and when we need to do or have something more before we are ready.

So then God sometimes wants to test our faith, purify our hearts, or grant us the opportunity to grow in our spiritual life so that we may discover that what we ask for is in union with His divine plan. In other words, God knows how to prepare our hearts so that we are ready to receive what we really need, and not necessarily what we ask for. That is why God's wisdom and love may look to us very puzzling at times, and even beyond our comprehension perhaps, but His actions always flow from the depths of His love and His truth.

In sum, the lesson of this Sunday's Gospel is that we must keep faith, persevere, and approach our Lord Jesus Christ with confidence. Great faith conquers difficulties and obstacles in our journey of life.

So let us pray: O God, I may not understand how everything will work out, but I trust You always. I don't see a way at times, but I know You will make a way for me. Because I have great faith that at this very moment You are touching hearts, opening doors, and lining up the right breaks and right opportunities to those who believe and persist. Even when things may look dark and bleak now, but I have great faith that my dawn is coming, in Your time. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!