XX.O.T.-A  Is. 56:1, 6-7; Rom. 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt. 15:21-28

M. K.  Gandhi is the father of the nation of India. In his autobiography he tells how, during his days in South Africa as a young Indian lawyer, he read the Gospels and saw in the teachings of Jesus the answer to the major problem facing the people of India, the caste system. There are 4 Castes in India and they don’t intermingle. Seriously considering embracing the Christian faith, Gandhi went to a white-only church one Sunday morning, intending to talk to the pastor about the idea. When he entered the church, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and told him to go and worship with his own colored people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.”

Some 25 years ago, while in the Seminary, I visited a very famous Hindu temple in North India. But as we were entering the temple, we found a sign outside written: Christians and dogs are not allowed. We had a few nuns with us and so fearing we would be identified, we stayed out; did not go in.

No Non-Muslim can go to anywhere near Mecca the holy city of the Muslims. If a non Muslim is found within the city limit of Mecca he or she can be executed. Allah doesn’t like non Muslims there.

So what do we understand from all these? Are there different gods for people of different religions? If different gods created this world all the human beings would not breath from the same airspace or would not occupy the same world. So, if everybody share the same nature, it is all created by one God and he doesn’t preclude anybody from entering into the place where he is believed to reside.

This is an extraordinary gospel story we have today. This Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter; he objects that he has come only to the lost sheep of Israel. She persists and eventually he does as she asked.

What has happened? Did Jesus make just an exception for her? ‘I have come only to the lost sheep of Israel and for you.’

There is another way of understanding the story which is more convincing. This incident is part of a slow transformation in the mission of Jesus. He had sent his disciples only to the lost sheep of Israel, but here he is in Gentile land. This story comes between the feeding of the five thousand, which is usually taken to be symbolic of the mission to the Jews, and the feeding of the four thousand, which is seen as pointing to the mission to the Gentiles. Jesus had told the woman there was only enough bread was for the children of the household, and then suddenly there is more than enough bread for everyone, seven baskets full.

So what is happening in this conversation between Jesus and the Canaanite woman is not that he makes an exception. It is a moment in a gradual turning of Jesus to the Gentiles.

 All three readings today speak of the expansive and universal nature of the “Kingdom of God,” in contrast with the theory that salvation was offered first to the Jews and only then to the rest of the world.  Although God set the Hebrew people apart as His chosen race, He included all nations in His plan for salvation and blessed all families of the earth in Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). By declaring through the prophet Isaiah (the first reading), “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” God reveals the truth that in His eyes there is no distinction among human beings on the basis of race, caste or color.  The long-expected Messianic kingdom was intended not only for the Jews but for all nations as well. Today’s psalm rejects all types of religious exclusivity: "Let all the peoples praise You, O God; …For You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth, so that Your saving power may be known among all the nations."

We need to pull down our walls of separation and share in the universality of God’s love:  God’s care extends beyond the boundaries of race and nation to the hearts of all who live, and God’s house should become a house of prayer for all peoples. It is therefore fitting that we should pray that the walls which our pride, intolerance and prejudice have raised, may crumble. As baptized members of the Christian community, we have been given special privileges and easy access to God's love.  But we also have serious responsibilities arising from these gifts. One of these responsibilities is to make clear to others, the “outsiders”, with true humility and compassion, that God's love, mercy and healing are for them also because they too are the children of God, they too are “insiders”.

In most cases when we ask the converts what took them so long to decide to become Catholic, the reply would be, "No one ever invited me!" Wouldn't it be a good thing if once in a while, we could say to a friend or relative, or a neighbor, "Have you ever thought of becoming a Catholic?" If they show interest, then say to them, "Well, I would like to invite you now!" Sr.Lyn would be starting the RCIA program soon. It is our Catholic obligation to invite our non Catholic neighbor to come enjoy the full fellowship with the Lord by participating in the Wedding feast of the Lamb.

We must not let timidity or pride or even fear hold us back. To drag our feet is to risk going against Jesus' own prayer before He died on the Cross: "that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that the world may believe that you sent me."  (John 17:21)
Let’s pray that we may have an open heart and mind to accept the outsiders into the fold of Christ and make them insiders with us.