(20th Sunday of Ordinary Time)
Scripture: Is. 56:1, 6-7; Ps. 66: 2-3, 5-6, 8; Rom. 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt. 15:21-28
It was not long ago when a man wearing a turban visited a church on Sunday. His appearance showed that he was not a Christian. A group of community leaders gathered together in the sacristy to demand the removal of the man from the congregation. It was difficult for the priest to pacify them. At last, the priest went to the turban-clad man and spoke with him. The man shared with the priest the difficulties he was facing; his son who was abroad got cheated by an agent. He had no job, no money and no place to live. He met a family who was Catholic and took care of him. They gave him a job. His son told him that they are very religious. The man told the priest that although he could not go abroad, he wanted to know how they worship. The priest had tears in his eyes. The priests did not say anything to him. He embraced him and returned to the sacristy. The tears in the eyes of the priests made the local leaders silent. The incident had profound truth in it. God’s care extends beyond the boundaries of race and nation, and to the hearts of all who live, and God’s House is intended to become a house of prayer for all people.
The scriptures give us so many references to this fact of God who is beyond the boundaries of race and nation. It is mentioned in the first book of the Bible; Abraham was promised to be blessed by God for his heroic faith is ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God told him, your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me. (Gen. 22:15-18) This was the promise that God fulfilled time to time.
Let us look at a few examples of gentiles getting favours from God in the Old Testament. Hagar, a gentile woman and the slave of Abraham and Sarah was ill-treated after the birth of Isaac. She ran away in the wilderness. God reached out to Hagar. (Gen. 26) Rahab was a gentile woman who helped a Jewish spy in their conquest at Jericho. She had great faith in the God of Israel. She was the first convert to Judaism in the Old Testament (Joshua 6:25; Ruth 2). Ruth was another gentile woman who was a childless widow. She lived with her Jewish mother in law after her husband’s death. God cared for her. She received blessings from God and also found a place in the linage of Jesus Christ (Book of Ruth). A widow of Zarapeth was fed with food by the Prophet Elijah during the time of famine (1 King 17). Naaman, the Aramean commander, who came to Prophet Elisha for healing, was cured by taking a dip in the river (2 Kings 5). The prophet Jonah was called to preach to the people of Nineveh, a sinful gentile city. Jonah preached repentance to the Ninevites. When God saw they had repented, he did not bring destruction on them (Jonah 3:10). There are so many examples of gentiles who received favours from God in the Old Testament.
Today’s first reading also gives us a glimpse of God’s universality. A prophet who was talking to the people who were returning to Israel from the exile of Babylon. This part of the book is called the Trito Isaiah (chs 56-66). The exile officially ended but some Jews chose to stay in Babylon among the gentiles. God made them understand the role of Gentiles in the restored kingdom. He says the foreigners will join themselves to Yahweh, they will minister to him, they will love his name, they will become his servants. Thus his house of prayer will be called the house of prayer for all people. This prophecy was very consoling to the people of Israel because some of them had married the Gentiles. In short, Prophet Isaiah told them that the gentiles to have a part in God.
Jesus, who is the fulfilment of the Old Testament showed in his life that he also cared for the gentiles. There are two miracles recorded for Gentiles in the Gospel of Mathew. The healing of the centurion’s son (Mt. 8:10-12) and the healing of Canaanite woman’s daughter. Both the miracles foreshadow the extension of Jesus’ ministry to the Gentile. Jesus’ presence in the gentile territory itself shows that he cared for them. The cities of Tyre and Sidon in the north of Galilee in present-day Lebanon. A Canaanite woman came from the Syro-Phoenician race. They worshipped idols. They were ritually unclean. The Israelites had destroyed Canaanites after the Egyptian exile. They were ancestral enemies of Israelites. The woman in the Gospel approached Jesus had no credibility to stand before him. She was asking Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus ignored her three times, which is very unusual. First, he ignored her persistent cry by not saying anything. Second, he refused to give in to the disciples’ request by saying that he was sent only to the house of Israel. Third, he directly refused her healing. The lady showed great reverence to Jesus. She called him ‘Son of David’. She came after him. She prostrated before him. she called him ‘Lord’. In spite of all of her pleading, it appears that Jesus was harsh with her. He told her, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ However, Jesus appeared to be testing her that she may become the model of faith. It is interesting to note the word used for a dog in Greek by Jesus was kunarios which means pet dog. The word for a stray dog was kuon. During the days of Jesus, pet dogs were considered insiders. They were part of the family, like how some of us treat our pet dogs even today. The woman was sharp enough to pick up Jesus’ compassion for her. There are so many instances Jesus shows us his universal salvific approach. He entered into the town of Samaritan (Jn. 4). He taught how to be a good neighbour with the example of a good Samaritan (Lk.10:25-37). Jesus also sent his disciples to preach the Good news to all the nations (Mt. 28:16-20).
St. Paul also had true an understanding of Jesus’ universal salvific mission. He tells us in the second reading that the Jews considered themselves as the chosen people of God. God made a promise to Abraham. Now that the descendants of Abraham rejected Christ, the anointed one; he was forced to preach to the gentiles. Paul called himself the apostle of the gentiles. He was dejected at the slow pace of Jewish acceptance of Christ as the Son of God. He was in the secret plan of God. He turned all his energy to preach the good news to the gentiles. He saw the Jewish rejection of the Gospel is the reconciliation of the gentile world to God. He also saw the gentile conversion would prompt Jews to accept Christ. God fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah and brought all nations to worship Christ on one mountain i.e. Calvary. It is commemorated at every Eucharist.
Jesus loves everyone. He goes beyond the race and nation. His care extends to all. The man with the turban experienced it in his family life through a Christian family. The Prophet Isaiah prophesied about it to the people of Israel. Jesus showed it through his life to the Canaanite woman by healing her daughter. St. Paul understood while preaching it to the gentiles. We are called to accept this fact. We need to go beyond our narrow mindedness to spread the love of God to others that they may realize Jesus died for the entire human race. We are bearers of this good news.
