Sunday, August 16, 2020 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew 15, 21-28 - Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healed every disease in the people.
Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, which means that He went to the Gentiles because this region is outside Palestine. When you are not a Jew, you are a Gentile. Salvation is not exclusive to Jews. It is the theme that is being proposed to us this week: "God means that all mankind enters his kingdom".
The suffering of this Canaanite woman is so great, her daughter is so tormented by a demon, that she came out, cried out, begged Jesus to heal her. Her distress is such that she has banished shame from all racial and ethnic barriers. It should be noted that she was not Jewish but Canaanite, when she heard the fame of Jesus, she believed that Jesus is Lord and descendant of David: her faith was deeply rooted.
We, too, now seem to be under the control of this terrifying epidemic, making everything difficult or even impossible. We must cry out, beg the Lord, to save us. Especially since we are not strangers to Him, through baptism we have become His brethren, and through the Church we have become His members. Did He not save "others", why not us? But in addition, Satan seems to reign now, he seems to take advantage of this confinement, forcing us to commit all kinds of sins, deliberately destroying what we already have, upsetting what is already well organized. This chain must be broken and brought to Jesus so that He may set us free. Don't give Satan a chance, but let's maintain our relationship with Jesus more and more. It is repentance that is asked of us.
At the same time, our thinking is different from God's. Let's look at what happened to Jesus' disciples, begging him, "Send her away, for she's after us with her cries!" What bothers us, we want to get rid of. That's an inappropriate thought. Let's remember, Jesus wants to save everyone, even those who don't yet believe. This woman didn't care what anyone said about her, so urgent was her request. Nothing can prevent her from meeting the Lord.
Not only did this woman had a desire for her child to be healed, but she also sought all the means to make her wishes come true. She overcame all obstacles and overcame them with her great faith. Thus, even though she is not Jewish, she obtained the healing of her daughter. We, too, became Christians through baptism, but it is not enough to be a Christian in name, but to live the faith. That is, a living faith that can be shared with others. If faith is truly alive, it can do anything. So be it for us. Amen.
