2022년 8월 3일 연중 제18주간 수요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
예레미야서. 31,1-7
1 그때에 나는 이스라엘 모든 지파의 하느님이 되고
그들은 내 백성이 될 것이다. 주님의 말씀이다.
2 주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
칼을 피해 살아남은 백성이 광야에서 은혜를 입었다.
이스라엘이 제 안식처를 찾아 나섰을 때
3 주님께서 먼 곳에서 와 그에게 나타나셨다.
“나는 너를 영원한 사랑으로 사랑하였다.
그리하여 너에게 한결같이 자애를 베풀었다.
4 처녀 이스라엘아, 내가 너를 다시 세우면 네가 일어서리라.
네가 다시 손북을 들고 흥겹게 춤을 추며 나오리라.
5 네가 다시 사마리아 산마다 포도밭을 만들리니
포도를 심은 이들이 그 열매를 따 먹으리라.
6 에프라임 산에서 파수꾼들이 이렇게 외칠 날이 오리라.
‘일어나 시온으로 올라가 주 하느님께 나아가자! ’”
7 주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
“야곱에게 기쁨으로 환호하고, 민족들의 으뜸에게 환성을 올려라.
이렇게 외치며 찬양하여라.
복음
마태오 15,21-28
그때에 예수님께서 21 티로와 시돈 지방으로 물러가셨다.
22 그런데 그 고장에서 어떤 가나안 부인이 나와,
“다윗의 자손이신 주님, 저에게 자비를 베풀어 주십시오.
제 딸이 호되게 마귀가 들렸습니다.” 하고 소리 질렀다.
23 예수님께서는 한마디도 대답하지 않으셨다.
제자들이 다가와 말하였다.
“저 여자를 돌려보내십시오. 우리 뒤에서 소리 지르고 있습니다.”
24 그제야 예수님께서 “나는 오직 이스라엘 집안의 길 잃은 양들에게
파견되었을 뿐이다.” 하고 대답하셨다.
25 그러나 그 여자는 예수님께 와 엎드려 절하며,
“주님, 저를 도와주십시오.” 하고 청하였다.
26 예수님께서는 “자녀들의 빵을 집어
강아지들에게 던져 주는 것은 좋지 않다.” 하고 말씀하셨다.
27 그러자 그 여자가 “주님, 그렇습니다. 그러나 강아지들도
주인의 상에서 떨어지는 부스러기는 먹습니다.” 하고 말하였다.
28 그때에 예수님께서 그 여자에게 말씀하셨다.
“아, 여인아! 네 믿음이 참으로 크구나. 네가 바라는 대로 될 것이다.”
바로 그 시간에 그 여자의 딸이 나았다.
August 3, 2022
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary
Reading 1
At that time, says the LORD,
I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
Thus says the LORD:
The people that escaped the sword
have found favor in the desert.
As Israel comes forward to be given his rest,
the LORD appears to him from afar:
With age-old love I have loved you;
so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines,
you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.
Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.
Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will call out on Mount Ephraim:
“Rise up, let us go to Zion,
to the LORD, our God.”
For thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
Gospel
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
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 her daughter was healed from that hour.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The passage from Jeremiah describes God’s enduring love for his chosen people. The responsorial “psalm” continues with the subsequent verses from the same chapter of Jeremiah. The Gospel tells the story of a non-Jewish woman’s persistence in seeking a cure for her daughter.
These readings gave me some insight into where I would fit in salvation history. I must admit that I had always thought of myself as part of the chosen people. I was brought up in an environment that had me feeling that I was part of a great tradition. Today’s readings hit me as having God’s special relationship as much more Israel-centric than I was anticipating.
In the first reading, Israel is returning from a second period of exile, this time from their Assyrian conquerors. We read about joy and praise in this liberation. I always projected myself into that tradition. A tradition that had a special relationship with God. Today’s readings have me realizing that my ethnic history is not that of God’s chosen people (even though my spiritual history may be). I am not even anthropologically related to Israel’s captors as my roots come from somewhere much more north and west.
In the Gospel, Jesus makes clear His special relationship with the Jewish people. The Gospel’s setting (the region of Tyre and Sidon) was not an area with significant Jewish settlement. A Canaanite woman, a woman from a historical enemy of the Jews, calls out to Jesus. If I imagine myself in this setting, my mind drifts to an interaction that differs from my expectation. The woman addresses Him as Son of David; this seems to me to be clearly calling him out as a Jew. I get the sense that she is desperately reaching out to Jesus as someone who might be able to help her cure the dire situation with her daughter. I find myself particularly confused by His statement, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The woman seems only to make progress because of her persistence. His response (“It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”) comes across to me as a derogatory statement. Her humbling answer seems to earn Jesus’ respect. I had never really given much thought to the idea that Jesus was the Messiah to the Jews. I can only imagine that this Gospel text would make much more sense to the early listeners to this Gospel who came out of that Jewish tradition.
It is sobering to realize where I fit in the Biblical version of God’s historical relationship with mankind. I like to think of myself as special and called by name. I still am able to retain the feeling that I, as a Gentile with historical roots from a very distant tribe, am something much more than merely part of a second-round choice that occurs when Jesus is not embraced by large parts of his own faith community. I am left with a prayer that has me rethinking my place in the grand scheme of things.
Dear Lord,
I like to see stories from my own perspective.
Help me to open my mind and heart to see things from the perspective of others.
I also like to put myself at the center of the universe.
Not only am I not there, the recent images from space show what a small and distant planet we inhabit.
Allow me to see humbly from my position of insignificance.
Your personal gifts of grace and recognition take on so much more meaning in this context.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
WITH ABANDON
“Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers.” —Jeremiah 31:4
The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10). The Lord tells us to “praise His name in the festive dance” and to “sing praise to Him with timbrel and harp” (Ps 149:3). “Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well” (Jer 31:13). So, this applies to all God’s people, not only the young.
As we dance and make a joyful noise to the Lord (Ps 100:2), we are to “shout with joy” and proclaim His praise (Jer 31:7, 12). Shouting, singing, dancing, and clapping are human ways of expressing praise. If we can do these things for athletes, politicians, and celebrities, how much more worthy is our God of such acclaim!
Consider what the Lord has done for us. He died to save us from sin, slavery, death, damnation, and Satan (see Mt 15:22). He rose from the dead and poured out the Spirit. He is with us always (Mt 28:20). He will never forsake us. “With age-old love,” He has loved us (Jer 31:3). He constantly forgives, heals, feeds, and frees those who call on Him. He alone is worthy to be praised (Rv 5:12), praised in every way, with all our strength, praised forever.
Prayer: Father, send the Spirit of praise so that I may worship You with abandon as David did (2 Sm 6:14).
Promise: “Jesus then said in reply, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your wish will come to pass.’ That very moment her daughter got better.” —Mt 15:28
Praise: After months without Mass because of the Covid pandemic, Dominic worships now with renewed fervor at Mass.
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Do you ever feel "put-off" or ignored by the Lord?
This passage (Matthew 15:21) describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman, a foreigner who was not a member of the Jewish people, puts Jesus on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the woman to awaken faith in her.
Jesus first tests the woman's faith
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles did not follow God's law and were excluded from God's covenant and favor with the people of Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. There is another reference to "dogs" in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus says to his disciples, "Do not give to dogs what is holy" (Matthew 7:6). Jesus tests this woman's faith to see if she is earnest in receiving holy things from the hand of a holy God. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
Seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith
Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with earnest faith - whether Jew or Gentile - was refused his help. Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith?
Lord Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and pursue you with indomitable persistence as this woman did. Increase my faith in your saving power and deliver me from all evil and harm.
Psalm 67:1-7
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, [Selah]
2 that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. [Selah]
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
7 God has blessed us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Mother of the Gentiles, by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century)
"After our Lord departed from the Jews, he came into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. He left the Jews behind and came to the Gentiles. Those whom he had left behind remained in ruin; those to whom he came obtained salvation in their alienation. And a woman came out of that territory and cried, saying to him, 'Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David!' O great mystery! The Lord came out from the Jews, and the woman came out from her Gentile territory. He left the Jews behind, and the woman left behind idolatry and an impious lifestyle. What they had lost, she found. The one whom they had denied in the law, she professed through her faith. This woman is the mother of the Gentiles, and she knew Christ through faith. Thus on behalf of her daughter (the Gentile people) she entreated the Lord. The daughter had been led astray by idolatry and sin and was severely possessed by a demon." (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 58)
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