Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 7th August, 2024
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Optional memorials of Ss Sixtus II, pope and Companions, martyrs and St Cajetan, priest
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 31.:1-7
I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I will be the God of all the clans of Israel: – they shall be my people.
The Lord says this:
They have found pardon in the wilderness, those who have survived the sword. Israel is marching to his rest.
The Lord has appeared to him from afar:
I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you.
I build you once more; you shall be rebuilt, virgin of Israel.
Adorned once more, and with your tambourines, you will go out dancing gaily.
You will plant vineyards once more on the mountains of Samaria
(the planters have done their planting: they will gather the fruit).
Yes, a day will come when the watchmen shout on the mountains of Ephraim,
‘Up! Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God!’
For the Lord says this:
Shout with joy for Jacob! Hail the chief of nations!
Proclaim! Praise! Shout:
The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel!’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Jer 31: 10-13, v10
Response The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.
1. O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts.
Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’ Response
2. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord. Response
3. Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old, will be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give gladness for grief. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jm 1: 18
Alleluia, Alleluia!
By his own choice the Father makes us his children by the message of the truth,
so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he created.
Alleluia!
or Lk 7: 16
Alleluia, Alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 15: 21-28
Woman, you have great faith.
Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting,
‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him.
‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.‘
He said in reply,
‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’
But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet.
‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’
He replied,
‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’
She retorted,
‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’
Then Jesus answered her,
‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’
And from that moment her daughter was well again.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Wednesday Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 15:21-28
There is no stronger bond than that between a mother and her child. In today’s gospel reading, a pagan woman approaches Jesus on behalf of her seriously ill child. It is striking that she says to Jesus, ‘take pity on me’ and ‘help me’, rather than ‘take pity on my child’ and ‘help my child’. She identifies fully with her child’s condition. The suffering of her child is her own suffering. In the gospels, Jesus is generally very well disposed to children and he always responds to parents who approach him on behalf of their children, such as Jairus, the synagogue official, whose daughter was on the point of death. Yet, on this occasion, Jesus seems detached from this pleading mother. His initial response is one of silence. He explains to his disciples that, for now, his primary mission is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, rather than to the equally lost pagans.
When he finally speaks to the woman, his words seem harsh. In a mini parable, he declares that children cannot be deprived of food to feed the house dogs. In other words, the children of Israel have to be fed first, before pagans whom many Jews referred to as ‘dogs’. The woman cleverly turns Jesus’ image around, declaring that the untidy eating habits of children often allow the dogs to feed off their scraps and crumbs. She identifies with the house dogs and declares that she would be happy with scraps from Jesus’ table for the sake of her daughter. Jesus recognizes what he calls her ‘great faith’.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus often addresses his own disciples as people of little faith, but here is a woman of great faith. Jesus cannot but respond to such great faith. This woman inspires us all to keep knocking on the Lord’s door, to keep seeking, to keep asking. This is how great faith expresses itself and the Lord will eventually work powerfully through the opening which such great faith creates.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
