Podcast: 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Hi and welcome to The Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.

This weekend we celebrate the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.

After prayerfully reviewing the scriptures for this Sunday, I fell that three main points are emphasized:

1. God is the God of ALL peoples
2. God hears the cry of his faithful ones when they call
3. God is infinitely merciful in answering our prayers

Beginning with our Entrance Antiphon, we raise our voices to the Lord as we enter into his holy presence.

Taken from Psalm 84 verses 10 and 11, we sing:

“Turn your eyes, O God, our shield;
and look on the face of your anointed one;
one day within your courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere.”

In this refrain, we cry out to the Lord, confident that he will hear us and mercifully grant our request.

Even as far back as in the times of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, God demonstrates his love for all creation: that He is the God of ALL peoples on the earth.

In our first reading for today, taken from Isaiah chapter 56, we read that God has always looked at the *heart* of man, regardless of whether he is a Hebrew or a “foreigner”. Verses 6 and 7 tell us specifically:

“The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Again, God is the God ALL peoples. His house is “a house of prayer for ALL peoples.”

The same message is found in the Psalm for today. Psalm 67 is a psalm of praise that invites all people to praise the name of the Lord.

The refrain is taken from verse 4:

“O God, let all the nations praise you!”

The gospel for today is one of my absolute favorites. It’s the story of the Canaanite woman who persists in begging the Lord for mercy and to heal her daughter. Faced with the disciples trying to turn her away, Jesus ignoring her at first, and even testing her further two times, She was unabated.
Her faith was still so great – and God’s mercy so infinite – that her request was granted.

Let’s break down this reading from Matthew chapter 15, starting with the Canaanite woman crying out to Jesus in verse 22:

““Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.”

Now how many times do we cry out to God, and feel like we are being ignored? She saw him right in front her and he said nothing to her.

Also, she called him the Son of David. That is significant, especially for a Canaanite woman whose ancestors were regularly at war with the Hebrews ever since they entered the land of Canaan led by Joshua, who succeeded Moses.

In verse 23 we read that

“Jesus’ disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.””

So not only is Jesus seeming to ignore her, but even his disciples – those closest to the Lord – are asking him to send her away.

And in verses 24 & 25:

“He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.””

So now Jesus has at least responded to her. But he’s told her that he was sent to the house of Israel, of which she does not belong.
But she kept going! She knew he could help her and she must have believed he is merciful.

In verses 26-28 we read:

“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 the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.”

The Canaanite woman’s response to Jesus in these verses is one of the wisest comebacks in the Bible.

“even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

I wish I came up with that!

Her faith was great and she therefore kept persisting. And ultimately, the Lord granted her request.

And even better than that, she is remembered forever as the Canaanite woman – a foreigner, not a Hebrew at all – who demonstrated such great faith as to have her petition answered by Jesus himself.

In this gospel alone, we see these same three points emphasized:
That God is the God of ALL peoples,
God hears the cry of his faithful ones when they call,
and that God is infinitely merciful in answering our prayers.

We must approach the throne of God with the same faith as this Canaanite woman.

The Communion Antiphon for today, taken from Psalm chapter 130 verse 7, encourages us in the same way:

“With the Lord there is mercy;
in him is plentiful redemption.”

Whatever we imagine exists to separate us from being able to approach the Lord with our praise and petitions is a fabrication.

God is a God of ALL:
the Hebrews and the Gentiles,
the foolish and the wise,
the rich and the poor,
the just and the sinner…

God wants a relationship with us and he is infinitely merciful.

“Misericordes Sicut Pater” is the title of a most gorgeous hymn of reflection by Paul Inwood that was chosen as the official hymn for the year of Mercy back in 2015. I find it a most appropriate litany to fit with the message in the scriptures today.

That was “Misericordes Sicut Pater” by Paul Inwood and sung by the Queen of Peace Music Ministry in Mesa, AZ.

Thanks for listening to The Modern Psalmist podcast for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, year A. Links to all the featured songs can be found in the show notes.

Tune in again next week for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary time, when Jesus declares that Peter is the rock upon which he will build his church.

God bless you.