Homily for Wednesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle II
Theme: Great Faith
By: Fr. Benny Tuazon
Homily for Wednesday August 5 2020
(Mt. 15:21-28) Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel Jesus had an encounter with a woman of great faith. She was a Canaanite which means that she was not part of the chosen people of Israel. We do not know the tone of the exchange between her and Jesus, thus, we do not know whether it was a serious or light conversation. But both knew the Messianic mission of prioritizing the Jews in His ministry. Yet, Jesus broke from His mission to address the needs of this woman of faith.
Loving is not limited by time, place, and even situations. Salvation, more or less, is the same or, maybe, even more. Jesus saw the great faith of this woman and He obliged. While I am sure that Jesus was not derailed by the rejection and lack of faith of the Jews, He would not want to leave out this woman who had showed faith in Him. Anyway, salvation was for everyone. Eventually, this woman and all others would receive it. So, why wait?
Salvation is both universal and urgent. This has been the recurring theme of Jesus’ ministry.
When He sent His apostles for a mission, He stressed the urgency of their mission by discouraging them to bring a lot of things, leave those who would not listen and welcome them, and heal the sick. Also, very noticeable in Jesus was His availability to anyone in need specially the sinners. Rich or poor, healthy or sick, Jews or Gentiles, woman or man, everyone who showed faith in Jesus received His grace.
Let us be thankful to God for this. God created us all. Throughout history, we may have gone in different ways, settled in different places, lived different cultures, etc., but we are One creation of One God. Let us try to take care of each other, our fellow Catholics, brother Christians, and people of other sects, beliefs, religions, and denominations.