From the responsorial psalm: “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 15:21-28)
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
The Canaanite woman who calls out to Jesus, calling him Lord, begs him for help. “My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus at first does not answer her, and the disciples tell Jesus to send her away as she continues to call out after them. Then Jesus tells her that he was “sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Again, the woman says, “Lord, help me.” Jesus again seems to resist one who is not a lost sheep—as he called the Israelites—but instead a little dog. Although this sounds harsh, Jesus’ exchange with the woman draws from her a level of faith that causes Jesus to exclaim, “O woman, great is your faith!” For the sake of selfless love, the woman would accept any scrap of mercy from the Lord in order for him to heal her daughter. Will there be occasion today to seek the Lord’s mercy with the same selfless love?
God, help me today as I struggle to stay in your presence. Teach me throughout this day to come to you for my needs and to desire to know your guidance and care. I will forget you, lost in projects and transitory aims. Who will you place before me today that prompts me to go to you out of selfless love. Unless you make that very clear to me, I’m not likely to see it through the fog of distraction and self-absorption. Help me put into action the words of St. Albert the Great: “The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask.” For the sake of your Son’s sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.