Sunday Readings
August 17, 2008 :: Twentieth Sunday of the Year
Scripture
ISAIAH 56:1, 6 — 7
Even foreigners will be welcomed to salvation; all peoples will be accepted into the house of prayer.
ROMANS 11:13 — 15, 29 — 32
Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and he intensifies that ministry to show that God is equally merciful to the Gentiles and the Jews.
MATTHEW 15:21 — 28
The faith of this Gentile woman, who is turned away by the disciples, earns her not only a cure for her daughter but also a high compliment from Jesus, despite his first impression of her.
THEME
Gentiles are no longer outsiders. Isaiah proclaims that they are welcomed to the holy mountain, and Paul affirms them as his favorites, despite the jealousy of some Jews. Even though Jews are taught to despise Gentiles for their unholy ways, Jesus finally gives this Gentile woman high praise and heals her daughter.
FOCUSING OBJECT
A toy dog or a picture of a dog
REFLECTIONS
In Jesus’ time the Jewish faith had very strict dietary laws regarding what foods could be eaten and what kinds of dishes the food could be eaten from. On the other hand, Gentiles could eat anything. Some Jews likened them to dogs, who would often be given leftover food to eat off the ground. So when Jesus and this woman speak about children and dogs, they are definitely talking about the Jews and the Gentiles.
• This Gentile woman is brave, standing up to the disciples and even to Jesus. She has a point to make, and they listen. Have you ever been that persistent in a conversation with someone who had higher “status” than you? If so, what happened?
• Does our society think of some people as “dogs”? If so, who are the dogs of our society? Who is seen as holding lower status? What is your usual response to people such as these? What would be the Christian response that Jesus calls us to? What makes that such a difficult response?
• Do you have any close friends who are Jewish? If you have friends who are Orthodox Jews, then they still obey certain dietary rules. Have you ever heard them talk of kosher foods? What kinds of things do they eat?
CLOSING
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
— Martin Luther King Jr. (The Promise of a New Day)
For complete Sunday reading go to http://www.usccb.org/nab/
In Touch With the Word: Lectionary-Based Prayer Reflections, by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart (Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 2004).
Copyright © 2004 by Saint Mary’s Press, www.smp.org.
All rights reserved. Used with permission of the publisher.