OT XX [A] Is 56:1, 6-7; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28 

During the World War II, a small group of soldiers were on a special mission. Their good buddy had died of wounds he suffered during the war. They wanted to bury their friend in a proper grave. They wandered through the countryside until they came to a little village. They found a Church with a small graveyard. The cemetery was surrounded by a white picket fence. The young men found the parish priest and asked if the soldier could be buried in the Church cemetery. The priest expressed his sympathy and asked if the soldier was a Catholic. They said he wasn’t. The priest said he was sorry, but the graveyard was reserved for the members of the Holy Church. He told the young men that they could bury their friend right outside the fence and that he would personally care for the grave. The soldiers were very grateful to the priest and they buried their friend right outside the cemetery on the other side of the fence. Finally, the war was over. The soldiers returned home. One year, at their reunion, they made plans to visit the graveside of their friend. The village hasn’t changed much through the years, and they easily found the Church but couldn’t find the grave of their friend. The priest recognized the former soldiers and went out to greet them. They told him that they could not find their friend’s grave. The priest explained that it just didn’t seem right that the soldier was buried outside of the fence. “So, you moved the grave?” asked the loyal friends. “No,” said the priest, “I moved the fence.”

Each of today’s Scripture Readings speaks of the universal nature of God’s salvation. It is not limited to the Jews only, His chosen people, but also extends to the Gentiles and foreigners. God is the God of all nations and He moves the fence to include all people.

 

All three readings today speak of the expansive and universal nature of the “Kingdom of God,” in contrast with the protocol of the day which demanded that salvation should come first to the Jews and through them alone to all the people of the earth. 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 (Gn 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.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 67) rejects all types of religious exclusivity: “Let all the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.  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.” 

Among all the religions only Christianity has the characteristic proper to a universal religion. Hindu Scriptures, for instance were revealed for the people of India where Caste system prevailed and were written in Sanskrit. When translated those books lose their holy status. Quran, for instance was written in Arabic and revealed for the people of Arabia. If translated, that is not a Holy Quran any longer. Most of the content of Quran has no universal nature. Its content is mostly about how Muhammad’s wives should treat him and how many wives Muhammad was allowed to have as opposed to other Muslims. The prayers addressed to Allah have to be said in Arabic because Allah understands only Arabic and he spoke only in Arabic.  But the Bible was primarily written in Hebrew and Greek. Jesus spoke Aramaic but the new testaments were written in Greek. And all the bible translations are considered just as Holy as the Original Manuscript. Because it is intended, as said in the readings of today is for all the people of the world.

The Gospels describe only two miraculous healings Jesus performed for Gentiles:  the healing of the centurion’s servant (Mt 8:10-12) in Capernaum, and the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman which we hear today. By granting the persistent request of the pagan woman, Jesus demonstrates that his mission is to break down the barriers and to remove the long-standing walls of division and mutual prejudice between the Jews and the Gentiles. God does not discriminate but welcomes all who believe in Him, who ask for His mercy and who try to do His will.

 

God is always at work trying to draw each person into His friendship, or to deepen that friendship where it already exists. One of the most important ways God does that is through inviting us to be partners with His Providence, to take part in this saving mission.

Just as we share and collaborate in the concerns and projects of our human friends, so too the mature Christian, because he loves Christ and is living the life of grace, accepts God's invitation to collaborate in building up Christ's Kingdom, in helping  others discover and experience the Gospel, starting with family members, friends, and colleagues.

As Christians, this is our most important work, our life-mission, because as Christians, friendship with Christ is our most important relationship. Unfortunately, because the results of this activity - telling others about Christ, trying to build up the Church and Christianize culture - are not always immediate, we tend to push this responsibility to the back burner. Today Jesus is asking us to bring it to the front and turn up the heat.

Many of our neighbors are in desperate need of the mercy, truth, and grace of God - just like the little girl in today's Gospel. Our job is to connect those needy souls to Christ just as the Canaanite woman did, through our prayers, through our example of Christian living, and through our concrete actions.

But first we have to reconnect ourselves to Christ - so let's pray from the heart during the rest of this holy Mass, and ask God to give us courage and a renewed awareness of our true life-mission of sharing God’s saving love to others.