Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, August 16, 2020
EPISODE 247
Readings for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
FIRST READING: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6+8. “O God, let all the nations
praise you”
SECOND READING: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION, (cf. Matthew 4:23).Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus
preached the good news of the Kingdom. And healed all who were sick.
GOSPEL: Matthew 15:21-28
Shutterstock licensed image. ID:
139552943 Bible stories. By Anna Yefimenko
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Please listen to my audio recordings of
the readings, prayers and reflections for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year
A - Sunday, August 16, 2020, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ordinary-20a-episode-247-draft-1/s-pDzwTgjtmmz (EPISODE: 247)
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Prologue: (Fr Paul): The readings
this weekend remind us of one of the key teachings and attitudes of Our Lord.
This is also a central value and attitude in the life of the Holy Trinity:
(Father, Son and Holy Spirit!)…. and that is openness, inclusion and
welcome. Love that reaches out and is
always open to the other and a love that is always open to “yet one more person
being part of the family.”
The faith of that lady who persisted in asking Our Lord for what she
needed is sadly in stark contrast with the response many of Our Lord’ own
people were giving to Our Lord himself, who was ‘one of them’ – one of their
own people.. one of the chosen ones.
Many of his own people were rejecting him.
And here was a lady from a different place and a different religion who
knows she is taking a risk in even approaching him, and yet she keeps
persisting even when she gets an initial and noticeable rebuff from the
disciples and even by Our Lord’ initial response. The lady persists because she
KNOWS that Jesus is the one who can help. She knows that he is the messiah who
will welcome the chosen ones to his table. And she hopes and prays that her
faith in him and her proximity to the table will be enough to share in the
blessings of the table. The Canaanite
woman is willing to share in any scrap or morsel of the richness God has to
offer, which, ironically, is not being appreciated by those who sit at the
table…..And she is RIGHT. Our Lord does
not merely say, you can enjoy the scraps that fall from the chosen one’s table…
He is saying to her; because of your faith, because of your persistence…. you can JOIN the table… for -
What faith!! What persistence!!
I imagine that when the lady responded how she did, Our Lord would
have smiled... cast his head back and
laughed... not a scornful laugh but a
laugh of delight and recognition. THIS
lady GETS it... this lady understands
when my people do not. This humble woman just wants to share in any small piece
of the blessings that others cannot even see.,.... and then his warmth and inclusion are
complete.....
There are references to Our Lord starting out addressing the chosen
ones of Israel, but clearly, by the end of his ministry, this has widened to
all who will respond... The chosen ones
are anyone and everyone who responds in faith and love and trust in what The
Lord is offering... This is a blessing
of immense proportions.
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20th Sunday – Ordinary Time – Year A – 2020
Not being a parent, one of the things I have come to accept about my life is that I will never truly know the depth of a parent's love for their child. Too many times have I had to bless the body of a stillborn child and sense that the grief experienced by the parents is the same as if the child had lived a long life. It would seem that these intense feelings begin from the very moment that the parents are aware that they have between them become the co-authors of another person's life and they will value that life even more than their own. It is said that there is no stronger or greater love
The childless Jesus may have been a bit surprised himself to meet this courageous Gentile woman whose unshakeable determination for her child's healing makes her refuse to be put off or give up. She was prepared to humiliate and embarrass herself to the point of begging. Her maternal love impelling her to persevere, to struggle with no guarantee of a happy outcome.
Jesus' reaction to this woman is rather confronting. Is he actually refusing to help someone in need because of where they come from? Is he annoyed that he was looking for a break from the demands of his mission and he was being pestered by a begging woman? Surely Jesus could not be tired or frustrated, annoyed at this intrusion into his downtime. Could he possibly be acting like a normal person? I think it would be fair enough to say that many of us would react adversely to such an imposition. Generally, we might refuse to help someone who intrudes on our comfort, justifying ourselves by saying that we haven't got the time, or that we can't help everybody who asks, or that we are only encouraging people to beg if we give them something every time they ask.
This woman who came to Jesus was a pagan. To make matters worse, she was a member of a tribe that had been ancestral enemies of the Jews. Yet she had more faith in Jesus than in her own people. They wouldn't believe unless they saw signs and wonders, and even then they refused to believe. Here is a woman desperate for help and she may well have sacrificed her relationship with her family and community to ask this stranger, this foreigner for assistance.
Jesus' reaction does surprise us; at first, he ignores her. Then he refuses her and tries to put her off. Is he testing her resolve? Is this reaction meant for her or to teach his disciples a valuable lesson? However, as we hear she is a very determined woman she is a mother and will not take 'NO' for an answer. Upon seeing her unshakable perseverance, finally, he grants her request. As we told many times in the Gospels, our perseverance will eventually achieve a resolution to our needs, provided those needs are for lour good, not just our convenience.
Why is it so difficult to respond quickly and happily when we encounter a poor person or one in need of something that we can provide for them? Why do we look for a way out, that will make to problem go away or be passed on to someone else?
What it comes down to is this: we are afraid of the cry of the poor. An encounter with someone begging for assistance can be a disturbing experience. It can stir up unpleasant things inside us. It tends to arouse conflicting feelings of pity, discomfort, anger and guilt. We hate what we discover about ourselves, and unless we are careful we may direct that hate at the poor unfortunate person who has dared to approach us.
This encounter can be humbling when it makes us aware of our own poverty, but we are poor in a different sense. We can confront ourselves as being poor in compassion, poor in our capacity to love. If we are open to it, we can also find these encounters of great help to us. We can discover our own weakness and woundedness, which we are all good at concealing. If we are brave enough this encounter can awaken and reveal the heart. The fact that we acknowledge the conflict in ourselves means that we know the right thing to do we just lack the conviction, to struggle with our own conscience.
Even as Jesus remarks that this woman has great faith, he needs his followers to understand that faith is not a magic wand. It calls forth from us humility, courage, perseverance and above all love. A mother never gives up and nor does a person of faith. Faith and love are inseparably connected. Love is the expression of our faith.
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References:
Homily: Fr Peter Dillon
Prologue: Fr Paul W. Kelly
References: (MISSION
2000 – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR A. BY MARK LINK
S.J).
Shutterstock licensed image. ID: 139552943 Bible stories. By Anna Yefimenko
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary
Time. Year A (Sunday, August 16, 2020) (EPISODE: 247 )
The Lord be with
you.
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{{Hi
everyone}}
Our Gods love and mercy
knows no bounds, and so let us recall our sins so as to worthily celebrate this
Holy Sacrifice.
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit. Lord, have
mercy//You bring pardon and peace to the sinner. Christ, have mercy// You bring
light to those in darkness. Lord, have mercy//
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and
bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
2. When we eat this Bread and drink this
Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
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PREFACE: SUNDAYS I
Euch prayer two
Communion
side. pwk: LH
(OPENING THEME VARIATION: 1)
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{{May God's grace strengthen your love and hope and
faith, and may God's love surprise you even in the trials and challenges of the
week.}}
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
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Further information relating to the
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"Faith,
Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International
Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by
the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms” ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray," by Robert Borg'. E.J.
Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski.
The ….Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
- "Faith, Hope and
Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John Kelly - Inspired by 1
Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional
lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
“Quiet Time.” Instrumental
Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement
Stefan Kelk 2020.
- “Today I Arise” - For Tricia J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W.
Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick’s Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional
lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
May God bless and keep you.
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