Upcoming Sunday Gospel Readings
Sunday 20 August 2017
Matthew 15:10-28
Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
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This Gospel combines two moments that are both significant.
In the first portion, we find a teaching of Jesus that is perhaps the most scandalous of all the teachings of Jesus. In the midst of a people so concerned with laws and regulations concerning food, specifically what should be received as clean and what should be avoided as unclean, Jesus turns from the stomach and the mouth to the heart and the mouth. He redefines cleanliness and purity into what comes from a person rather than what a person takes into their bodies. It is ironic that centuries later we focus so much on fasting, though not as much as we once did, but neglect acts of mercy and deeds of faith when considering the purity of the faith. This is especially visible when Lent comes around. We focus on fasting from foods. But what if we were to focus more on living the faith. Faith, after all, comes indeed from us and has nothing to do with what we do or do not take into our bodies. Faith flows from character, from the heart, specifically the heart that is bound in love to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, from which our salvation springs forth as blood that washes whiter than snow.
The second portion is difficult. Jesus has an interesting confrontation with a Gentile woman. In the end it becomes obvious that God’s mercy is indeed for all people, even for those in whom we in human wisdom would find it difficult to believe that faith would spring forth from the heart of such a person that we would deem to be outside the boundaries of grace.
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Father Timothy Alleman
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