Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest.
Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.
Psalm Psalm 66:2-3,5-6,8
Second reading Romans 11:13-15,29-32
being sent, but the purpose of it is to make my own people envious of you, and in this way save
some of them. Since their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, do you know what
their admission will mean? Nothing less than a resurrection from the dead! God never takes
back his gifts or revokes his choice.
Just as you changed from being disobedient to God, and now enjoy mercy because of their
disobedience, so those who are disobedient now – and only because of the mercy shown to
you – will also enjoy mercy eventually. God has imprisoned all men in their own disobedience
only to show mercy to all mankind.
.
Gospel Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a
Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me.
My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went
and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’
He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had
come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to
take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even
house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her,
‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter
was well again.
Reflection
By Bernard Borja
By Bernard Borja
I was doing a research about how people do their jobs efficiently as a team when I came across these crazy (but somehow true) job descriptions:
1. Spend most of the day looking out of the window: Pilot
2. Talk in other people’s sleep: College Professor
3. Copy and paste from the Internet: Student
4. Move things from one tube to another: Microbiologist
5. Help people hate each other: Divorce Lawyer
6. Arrive after the battle and bayonet all the wounded: Auditor
7. Teach kids to be evil…or so they say: Video Game Creator
8. Call people who know what they’re doing and ask them what they’re doing: Incident Manager
9. Make people feel bad about their work: Quality Assurance Tester
10. Repeatedly fix what you repeatedly break: IT Director
11. Shoot couples on their wedding day: Wedding Photographer
12. Show up even though nobody called, get paid for an answer they knew already and to a question they never asked: Consultant
A job description is used to identify and determine the scope of tasks of the worker. This can also include the functions and specific areas to where the worker shall perform the assigned tasks. To perform a job efficiently, most people would say, “Just do what you are supposed to do.” or “Perform only within your specified job description.” But what should we do if we are given a situation that we need to do something (and we know we can do it) for someone who’s not part of our “area of responsibility”?
Jesus was challenged by a similar situation during His encounter with the Canaanite woman when He left Jewish territory. When Jesus met the woman, He did not say anything but He did not want to send her away either. Only when the woman persisted did Jesus talk and explain to her that His mission is only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He even relates her, being a Gentile, to pet dogs longing to be fed. But she accepts this and told Jesus that the dog enjoys the crumbs from the table. The woman’s faith had struck Jesus in a very special way. She did not try to obstruct Jesus’ mission in Israel. She only wants a crumb, which she knows is powerful enough to drive away the demon that has possessed her daughter.
Through the woman’s faith, Jesus even realized that His mission was beyond the borders of Israel. And beyond these borders are people who may even have more faith than those in Israel. This is evidently expressed when the woman recognized Jesus as the Son of David. It is a surprising recognition because Jesus did not even perform miracles or any signs in that region before meeting her. Yet she somehow recognizes Him not just a healer but as a rightful king.
God always speak to us about His universal love and that all are welcome in His house. No exceptions. No boundaries. It is amazing how we can discover good things if we only open our hearts and lend a helping hand. But sometimes, we choose not to do anything because it is not part of our job description. Or we think that only people who have common goals and views in life like ours are the ones who are welcome to be helped with.
Jesus teaches us to go beyond our “area of responsibility” because God’s love has always been for all His creation. He continues to break boundaries and meet outcasts to grant them not just a crumb but a place at His grand table. Just as there are food left after the feeding of the five thousand, God’s grace is enough to be enjoyed by everyone.
1. Spend most of the day looking out of the window: Pilot
2. Talk in other people’s sleep: College Professor
3. Copy and paste from the Internet: Student
4. Move things from one tube to another: Microbiologist
5. Help people hate each other: Divorce Lawyer
6. Arrive after the battle and bayonet all the wounded: Auditor
7. Teach kids to be evil…or so they say: Video Game Creator
8. Call people who know what they’re doing and ask them what they’re doing: Incident Manager
9. Make people feel bad about their work: Quality Assurance Tester
10. Repeatedly fix what you repeatedly break: IT Director
11. Shoot couples on their wedding day: Wedding Photographer
12. Show up even though nobody called, get paid for an answer they knew already and to a question they never asked: Consultant
A job description is used to identify and determine the scope of tasks of the worker. This can also include the functions and specific areas to where the worker shall perform the assigned tasks. To perform a job efficiently, most people would say, “Just do what you are supposed to do.” or “Perform only within your specified job description.” But what should we do if we are given a situation that we need to do something (and we know we can do it) for someone who’s not part of our “area of responsibility”?
Jesus was challenged by a similar situation during His encounter with the Canaanite woman when He left Jewish territory. When Jesus met the woman, He did not say anything but He did not want to send her away either. Only when the woman persisted did Jesus talk and explain to her that His mission is only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He even relates her, being a Gentile, to pet dogs longing to be fed. But she accepts this and told Jesus that the dog enjoys the crumbs from the table. The woman’s faith had struck Jesus in a very special way. She did not try to obstruct Jesus’ mission in Israel. She only wants a crumb, which she knows is powerful enough to drive away the demon that has possessed her daughter.
Through the woman’s faith, Jesus even realized that His mission was beyond the borders of Israel. And beyond these borders are people who may even have more faith than those in Israel. This is evidently expressed when the woman recognized Jesus as the Son of David. It is a surprising recognition because Jesus did not even perform miracles or any signs in that region before meeting her. Yet she somehow recognizes Him not just a healer but as a rightful king.
God always speak to us about His universal love and that all are welcome in His house. No exceptions. No boundaries. It is amazing how we can discover good things if we only open our hearts and lend a helping hand. But sometimes, we choose not to do anything because it is not part of our job description. Or we think that only people who have common goals and views in life like ours are the ones who are welcome to be helped with.
Jesus teaches us to go beyond our “area of responsibility” because God’s love has always been for all His creation. He continues to break boundaries and meet outcasts to grant them not just a crumb but a place at His grand table. Just as there are food left after the feeding of the five thousand, God’s grace is enough to be enjoyed by everyone.
Prayer
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