Being different in one flock
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 56:1. 6-7; Ps 67; Rom 11:13-15. 29-32; Mt 15:21-28
The liturgical readings which the Church proclaims on the 20th Sunday of the liturgical year take as their central theme the fact that Christ came for everybody. Nobody is excluded from his loving embrace. As Saint Paul explicitly makes clear, for him there is no Jew or Greek, Chrisitan or non-Chrisitan, but all are God’s children. His grace has done away with the factions and barriers that may keep us apart, propelling us to build bridges rather than walls.
From our experience, we know that it is very easy to discriminate between persons to serve our best interests. But this is attitude is not conconant with that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come into the world for some section of the world’s people. He endorsed no discriminatory attitude, nor gave privileges to some while excluded others. Jesus had the courage to transcend the culture of his mileu which was one imbued by separations, categories and discriminations due to class, social role and religious prestige.
This break-through clearly emerges in this Sunday’s Matthean text wherein we see Jesus conversing with somebody with whom – according to Jewish mentality – one could not enter into dialogue because of cultural, sexual and religious differences. This ushers the realization that, following Jesus’ example, we should never exclude those who are culturally, socially or religiously different from us.
This inclusive attitude of the Nazarene is in a way prefigured in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah which speaks of God’s temple as “the house of prayer for all the peoples”, whereby nobody is excluded from the call to worship God because God is the there for everybody. Thank God that our Lord does not reason the way we do! He is ready to accept and embrace even those who reject him. Just as the Word of God was also proclaimed to the Gentiles even though they were not considered by the Jews to be part of the people of God, so today, those whom we consider unworthy have a place in the heart of God.
However, it is very encouraging that we remember that, while God calls everybody to himself, He does not request that everybody responds in the same manner. He allows for a unity in diversity which is creative, dynamic and highly enriching.
Is 56:1. 6-7; Ps 67; Rom 11:13-15. 29-32; Mt 15:21-28
The liturgical readings which the Church proclaims on the 20th Sunday of the liturgical year take as their central theme the fact that Christ came for everybody. Nobody is excluded from his loving embrace. As Saint Paul explicitly makes clear, for him there is no Jew or Greek, Chrisitan or non-Chrisitan, but all are God’s children. His grace has done away with the factions and barriers that may keep us apart, propelling us to build bridges rather than walls.
From our experience, we know that it is very easy to discriminate between persons to serve our best interests. But this is attitude is not conconant with that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come into the world for some section of the world’s people. He endorsed no discriminatory attitude, nor gave privileges to some while excluded others. Jesus had the courage to transcend the culture of his mileu which was one imbued by separations, categories and discriminations due to class, social role and religious prestige.
This break-through clearly emerges in this Sunday’s Matthean text wherein we see Jesus conversing with somebody with whom – according to Jewish mentality – one could not enter into dialogue because of cultural, sexual and religious differences. This ushers the realization that, following Jesus’ example, we should never exclude those who are culturally, socially or religiously different from us.
This inclusive attitude of the Nazarene is in a way prefigured in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah which speaks of God’s temple as “the house of prayer for all the peoples”, whereby nobody is excluded from the call to worship God because God is the there for everybody. Thank God that our Lord does not reason the way we do! He is ready to accept and embrace even those who reject him. Just as the Word of God was also proclaimed to the Gentiles even though they were not considered by the Jews to be part of the people of God, so today, those whom we consider unworthy have a place in the heart of God.
However, it is very encouraging that we remember that, while God calls everybody to himself, He does not request that everybody responds in the same manner. He allows for a unity in diversity which is creative, dynamic and highly enriching.
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