Sunday, August 16, 2026

 

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:11-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28)

The Gospel we just heard is one of the most fascinating in the lectionary. It presents Jesus as attentive to people’s requests. Even more striking is how the Canaanite woman displays a blend of courage and humility. Unfortunately, many focus on Jesus’ comment about non-Jews when they hear the story. Listening to Jesus speak of Gentiles as “little dogs,” they question the Lord’s goodness. Let’s clear up this misconception first. Then we will be able to see more clearly the wonderful love Jesus has for all.

Scholars tell us two things about the comment. First, Jesus refers to Gentiles with the diminutive “little dogs,” which suggests affection. Furthermore, in the first century Jews regularly called pagans “dogs.” It can be compared to Americans calling their children "kids." In any case, the Canaanite woman doesn't take offense. Rather, she uses it to strengthen her request of Jesus.

Jesus has come to the region of Tyre and Sidon to rest.  Lately, his mission has been difficult. For the most part, the Jews are not accepting his message. Also, the Pharisees and scribes keep harassing him. Jesus seeks a break from the crowds seeking him out for healing. Then the mother of the demon-possessed Gentile girl confronts him.

But it isn't just to regain his strength that he initially rejects the Canaanite woman's request. As he tells his disciples, he has been sent to bring back "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Here Jesus again uses an animal name to refer to people.) This is no small matter. Jesus does not want his mission to Jews to be confused with that of his disciples to all the nations once the Kingdom of God has been established.  This will happen when he is ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit sent into the world.

However, the woman's faith moves him to change his mind. The Canaanite calls him "Lord" and prostrates herself before him to acknowledge his divine origin. Then Jesus realizes that a person's ethnicity is not as important as her beliefs. He is willing to grant the Canaanite woman’s request because she has demonstrated a firm belief in God's mercy. Through this change of plan, Jesus is initiating the preaching to the nations anticipated by the prophet in the first reading and carried out in the ministry of Saint Paul in the second.

There is a story that can help us understand the dynamic here. During World War II, an American soldier was killed in the French countryside. The dead man's comrades took the corpse to a church and asked for permission to bury him in the parish cemetery. The pastor asked if the dead soldier was a Catholic. They replied that he was a Protestant. The priest informed them that he could not allow it because the cemetery was reserved only for deceased Catholics. So, the soldiers sadly buried their friend just outside the stone wall of the cemetery.

The next day they returned to say a final prayer at the grave of their friend before leaving the area. But they couldn't find it. They searched thoroughly, but to no avail. Then they went back to the rectory to ask the priest if he knew what had happened to their comrade's remains. The priest told them that he wasn't been able to sleep that night because he had refused their request. So he got up in the middle of the night, went to the cemetery, took down the stone wall, and rebuilt it to include the dead soldier's grave!

We are not saying that the rules insisting only Catholics be buried in Catholic cemeteries are unjust. Much less are we saying that Jesus' initial reasons for not casting the demon out of the Canaanite woman's daughter were frivolous. But love sometimes compels us to reach beyond our limits and the rules that govern our daily activity. God's love, agape, extends to those we barely know, to those we don’t know at all, to those who may be sinful and to those who are suffering.  This is the will of God the Father. This is our legacy from Jesus, the Lord.

Friday, August 14, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

(Ezekiel 16:1-5.60.63; Matthew 19:3-12)

The Pharisees are playing hardball with Jesus as he and his disciples approach Jerusalem.  They are not testing whether he learned his catechism when they ask him about divorce.  They know that he has taught that marriage is a permanent union.  They want him to commit himself to opposing an article in the Torah that permits a man to divorce his wife with a written dismissal. 

Jesus is not intimidated by the truth.  He reiterates what he said in the Sermon on the Mount that it is a sin to divorce one’s wife to marry another woman.  As strong as Jesus is, he also is compassionate.  It is not impossible that Jesus has in mind homosexuals when he mentions those “incapable of marriage because they were born so.” 

There is no question of allowing so-called “homosexual marriage,” but there is reason to afford homosexuals special pastoral care.  Their genital desires can never be licitly satisfied.  Yet they may have fulfilling lives as they bear their cross behind Jesus.

 

Thursday, August, 13, 2026

 

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 12:1-12; Matthew 18:21-19:1

Doesn’t the gospel today seem somewhat fantastical?  Whoever heard of a person asking forgiveness seventy-seven times?  The truth is that probably every one of us has done so.  As children, we likely confessed repeatedly, “disobeying my parents.”   As adults, many poor souls cannot stop looking at pornography and confess the sin sometimes twice a week.

However, multiple sinning is not the point of Jesus’ parable.  His intention goes to the heart of the good news he preached.  As the king in the parable, God forgives individual men and women their many offenses. In return, God expects them to forgive one another.

Must we forgive our offenders when they do not ask for our pardon?  Do we have to extend forgiveness if offenders show no sign of repentance?  It does not seem so.  The Church does not give general absolution for sins unconfessed.  But it is necessary that we be ready to forgive by praying for those who offend us.

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

 

Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 9:1-7.10:18-22; Matthew 18:15-20)

The scribe with the stylus makes a “Thau” sign on the foreheads of faithful Israelites.  The “Thau” is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has the shape of an “x” in the Canaanite script.  It was likely seen as a simple mark like a check or an “x” that people use today to indicate the presence of something.  In Ezekiel’s vision the “Thau” distinguishes faithful believers in God from the syncretists of the time who mix their belief in God with pagan elements.  The paganisms were received from non-Jewish neighbors. 

The “Thau” should remind New Testament readers of the seal of God in the Book of Revelation.  The seal was given to distinguish true “Servants of God” from the heathen masses.  The Servants of God are to be spared the impending slaughter of unrepentant sinners.  Church Fathers equated the “Thau” with Christ’s cross which the minister of Baptism makes on the foreheads of those about to be baptized.

All of us have been marked with Christ’s cross.  The symbol represents the expectation that we will be faithful to Christ by not mixing our beliefs with pagan elements.  It is a daunting challenge today with so many wondrous goods competing for our allegiance.  We must remember to put Christ first and foremost in our lives and not give ourselves over to abominations to which the Internet gives us access.

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

(Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Matthew 18:1-5.10.12-14)

“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” This sounds like a question people today would ask.  Superbowl champions, World Cup winners, Academy Award recipients – these are the greatest in the world today.  But who is the greatest before God?

Jesus gives a surprising answer.  The greatest is not a figure like Peter who recognized Jesus as the Son of God.  Rather the greatest is more like St. Clare whom the Church remembers today.  Clare became “humble, like this child” as she imitated Francis, “il poverello.”  Both these great saints personified humility, not only because they lived simply but also because they recognized goodness in others.  They found worth even in those who might be considered the dregs of humanity.  This lesson might be drawn from the gospel parable. 

We recall that the “Parable of the Lost Sheep” is found in the Gospel of Luke as well as that of Matthew.  In Luke it is introduces chapter 15, which leads to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.”  The parable is misnamed, of course, because it is really about the prodigal love of the father representing God Himself.  Matthew, however, focuses more on the lost sheep who is worth the risk of losing ninety-nine to find.

Today the lost sheep include our friends and relatives who no longer come to church.  They have settled for striving to be great in the world.  That is, they work to satisfy their desire for money, pleasure, prestige, and power.  We call them back to church by telling them of their goodness and bidding them to thank God for who they are.