Commentary: 20th OT A

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, A

Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7

Psalm 67

Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32

Matthew 15: 21-28



The readings today center around the idea of salvation being available to all people. The First Reading, from the third part of the book of the prophet Isaiah, announces that foreigners previously barred from worshipping with the Israelite community will be welcomed, “for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The Responsorial Psalm catches this theme by using the refrain, “O God, let all the nations (gentiles, goyim) praise You!” and continues in the same vein in stanza one, “So may Your ways be made known upon earth; among all nations, Your salvation!” The Gospel is the encounter of Jesus with the Canaanite woman. While this woman is an outsider to the covenant, she calls out to Jesus in covenant terms—“Lord, Son of David, have pity on me!” Despite Jesus’ protestations that His mission “is only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He is overcome both by her requests and by her evident faith. It is this faith, Jesus says, that causes her daughter to be healed.



St. John Chrysostom, preaching on this verse, says: “Notice that the woman was a foreigner, a gentile, a person from outside the Jewish community. What was she then but a dog—unworthy to obtain her request? Nevertheless, by perseverance she became worthy, for Christ not only admitted her to the same noble rank as the children—dog though she was!—but also sent her away with high praise, saying, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be as you desire!’ Now when Christ says, ‘You have great faith,’ you need seek no further proof of the woman’s greatness of soul. You see that an unworthy woman became worthy because of perseverance. Let us not despair, even if guilty of sin and unworthy of any favor. We know that perseverance can make us worthy.” (Homily on Philippians 1: 18, 12-13)



The in-course reading of Romans continues today with Paul’s thoughts on the salvation both of Gentiles and of the Chosen People. “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable!” No matter that Paul’s hopes—that the Jews would see the Gentiles being saved and, being envious, want entrance into the kingdom as well—did not come to fruition. His theological statement about God’s unchanging love is the basis for all understanding of Christian/Jewish dialogue.



You can hear a chant taken from today's Gospel--Egressus Jesus--sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop, on a recording published by The Liturgical Press (www.litpress.org) entitled"Music for the Year of Matthew."



Two hymns which, though not based on these readings, would be excellent additions to the Eucharistic Liturgy on this Sunday, would be "Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace," and "When Christ Was Lifted from the Earth," both of which can be heard sung by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop on the cd, "Praise to the Lord: Great Hymns of the Church," published by The Liturgical Press (www.litpress.org).