Reaching Out to the Undeserved

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 16 August 2020
First reading Isaiah 56:1. 6-7

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 Yahweh 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.

Second reading                                                          Romans 11:13

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead! for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient so that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Gospel                                                                          Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon. ” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us. ” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me. ” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs. ” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. ” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish. ” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Reflection

By Bernard M. Borja

How many times do we find ourselves in a situation when we are moved with compassion to others? Early this year, we have witnessed the efforts of the people who extended their help to the victims of the Taal volcano eruption. These people were moved by compassion for those who needed to leave their homes and stay at evacuation centers. Not long after, when the quarantine started, we also witnessed several groups who organized relief operations for the hospitals and to feed those who were stranded in the streets. Today, compassion is still evident in the hearts of many people as we all go through this storm. However, hatred sometimes blurs out this same compassion, and most people do not acknowledge this virtue because they feel that compassion is only for those who they think deserves it. Some people today would complain about others’ lack of discipline. They even blame those less fortunate for their stubbornness to still go out and work for a living. Some also point out others’ sins and mistakes, concluding that they do not deserve compassion anymore. As we take notice of these things today, we can ask ourselves, should we be selective of whom we feel compassion for? Is compassion only for the selected few or the privileged? 

Humans are naturally compassionate like how God is because we are created in his image and likeness. In the process of compassion, we mostly feel good about it whether we are the ones who are moved to give or we are the ones who receive it. But this virtue only fulfills the process when we respond to it, and our response will either make us see more of the goodness, or bring us into desolation where we only see the bad. 

Jesus was constantly moved with compassion towards the people. He also constantly reminds the disciples that this would be one of the priorities in carrying out their mission. When the Canaanite woman called out to them, the disciples did not even bother to talk to her. This is because the disciples literally took by heart their mission which is only for the lost sheep of Israel. They would carry out the healing of the sick and driving out of demons only to the Jews. They did not consider the woman to be one of them, and asked her to be sent away. But Jesus has always guided them in every step as they witnessed how Jesus responded to the woman. He did not turn a blind eye nor a deaf ear, and He listened to what the woman was saying. Jesus knew that His mission will eventually be extended to the whole world but during those moments, He was saying “It is not yet my time to go out of our current scope.” But He was moved to grant the request when the woman “begged for the scraps”. She believes that even the left over fragments from God’s graces is more than enough to heal her daughter. Just like how Jesus fed the crowd with five loaves and two fish, the Canaanite woman believes that the grace of God is so abundant that there will still be more for outsiders like her.

Many people today struggle in their daily living. They are anxious if their families will still have food to eat in the next few days. Most of them are driven by this thought and leave their homes in spite of the pandemic. If we only realize, they are moved with compassion to those who put trust and hope in them like their loved ones. While some people see it this way, some people criticize what they do. Many of us hear their cries but only look at the danger of spreading the disease, which eventually may disturb our comfortable living. Most of the time, we only respond with compassion to those who, in our own perception, do things “right” because we believe that what they do will always be for the benefit of the people like us who deserve it. We are imprisoned in our own entitlement that we think we deserve the good things because we worked hard for it. This entitlement even extends to our own ego as we look down at others, who did not have the same opportunity we had, and tag them as undeserved. Jesus fed the five thousand even though we all know that not all of them are hungry, and maybe some of them also have their own loaves. But still, Jesus fed all of them. We can also believe that Peter and the disciples were not alone in the sea during the storm. There must also be other boats in there who were fishing. But Jesus calmed the storm and the waves not just in the small part of the sea where the disciples are. The Canaanite woman reminds us that not only those who directly follow Jesus can be saved, but the divine plan of God’s salvation extends to the ends of the earth. May this remind us that we are still somehow undeserving of God’s graces, but God still chooses to reach out His hand and keep us in His loving embrace.

Prayer

Dear God, we thank You for all the graces that You continue to bestow upon us even in our undeserving sinful nature. May we constantly remind ourselves to see You in the vulnerable people who only ask for a fragment of our compassion. May this eventually lead us to see You and feel Your presence in our hearts, as we are moved to respond like Jesus did. We give all praises to You for we are constantly fed, and yet the feeding does not stop with us, because this feeding is always meant to be shared for all. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.