faith works

When I was young, the concept of Faith seems to be very simple and precise. As I [and perhaps all of us] grew in age and knowledge, faith is becoming more and more obscure, shrouded, and complex. Before, I can define faith as the complete trust to someone you love; being true to one's emotion and unwilling to betray. Now that I come to know faith in relation with God, I can describe it in simplistic terms no more. The liturgical readings for today leads us to a point where a very simple expression of faith was lauded by Jesus himself. A very beautiful repertoire of readings that I cannot resist myself from writing. Now, it is this beautiful message of the readings that urged me to write reflections again, here in my blog.

In God, No Segregation, Only Creator-Creature

Why is the world so divided? This question pops into your mind and mine all the time. Everything and everyone is branded. Human mind is fragmented. Why? peoples are differentiated by their stratification. Only in this way can human mind operate. And this is the problematique of today's liturgical readings.

The Israelite thinking is so fragmented that they thought only their race is precious in God's eyes. Isiah is trying to revolutionize this mentality. the first reading [Isiah 56; 1-7] introduces us to the great understanding of God's largeness. His love is large. His acceptance is large. Larger than what Israelites ever thought of. This they need to change. Change their way of thinking that God's love is exclusively for a few. God loves the lovable and yes God loves even the unlovable. God loves the foreign believers and promised abundance to them if only they can remain faithful. God's house is open to all.

Another passage from the Old Testament reinforces the insight of Isiah as we recite the responsorial psalm for this Sunday. the psalmist sang of the immeasurable kind of majesty that God possesses. All people, not only the Israelites should praise God. God should be known to all nations and love must reign to the farthest bounds of the earth [Ps 85;9-14]. The psalmist understood the infinite greatness of God which is not only for the Israelites but to all nations.

From the Old Testament, the liturgy ushers us to a developing thought of the New Testament. Saint Paul, in the second reading taken from his letter to the Romans [Rm 11;13-16, 30-32], gave us a theological insight on what is God's purpose for loving even the gentiles. he explained that God can sometimes use the great faith of other nations to open the eyes of His own people. It is when they recognize the overflowing grace of God dispensed to gentile nations, who are responding to God in faith, that they will go back to their senses and examine their faithlessness.

A concrete example of that Paulines theology can be found in today's Gospel Reading. God is really the God of literature. His mysterious wisdom mellifluously written in the Bible; now presented coherently in the successive readings we listened to in the Mass. From discovering that God never marginalized anyone in the old Testament, to a God who empathize with the gentile nations to teach His chosen people for their refusal of Christian teachings, and now to a concrete example that dramatizes Paul's ideal doctrine.

It is indeed the coming of Jesus on earth that vivifies all godly messages. Without the Gospel, all Christian teachings are incomplete. It is the life of Jesus and His encounter with different people during his ministry that provides pragmatic translation of all contents of the scripture. And it is my prayer that more and more Christians specially Catholics may fall in love with the Gospel.

In the Gospel [Mt. 15;21-28], Jesus passed by the region of Tyre and Sydon where a Canaanite woman persistently cried out for his help. The daughter of this Canaanite woman is suffering from possession. Jesus, pretending he doesn't hear, was requested by the apostles to send the woman away. This did not weaken the woman's faith. Jesus told her that He was sent only for the lost sheep of Israel and that it is not good to throw the children's food to the dogs. The persistent woman, showing her huge maternal love, swallowed the words of sarcasm and replied "But even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master's table" What does that statement imply in our encounter with God? In our spiritual education? Did we even bother once to ask ourselves why did Jesus lauded the woman after saying this? And Jesus, admiring the woman for her rather great faith, granted her request and healed the daughter.

It is because the woman exposed the lack of faith in the part of the disciples. this incidence is an opportunity for Jesus to teach the disciples of how the majesty of God surpasses their shallow and exclusive understanding. Jesus knew that the disciples are still dwelling on the old mentality that God is only for the Israelites. He knew that at that very moment, a woman [nay gentile] will come and fight for her belief that even the dogs [gentile dogs] can eat the food under the children's [Jews] table. the woman fought for her belief that this God, although for the Jews, has immeasurable graces and blessings and capable of giving away even to the gentiles. An abundant God who can provide the needs of all believers regardless of class and nationality. This kind of faith is rare. Her faith is extraordinary. A faith that is miles away different from the simplistic mentality of the disciples.




This radical moment in the ministry of the Lord Jesus confirms the second reading of today. God can make use of the great faith of the gentiles to open the eyes of His chosen people; to make them realize their insufficiency in faith. The disciples, in telling Jesus to send the woman away only showed their poor understanding of Christ's mission. They sticked to the old belief that the Messiah is only for the Jews. This is the attitude of the disciples. They hated responsibilities. Remember how they behaves when Jesus administered to the people two Sundays ago? They told Jesus to send the people away because it's going late and they have no food to feed them. Jesus told them that they are the ones to give food themselves. The Gospel last Sunday, focused again in the apostles' imperfect faith. They were so terrified by the winds and the waves that they did not even recognize Jesus walking towards them. Jesus exclaimed "Oh you of little faith why did you doubt" as Peter sank into the water.

Now, it is another time for Jesus to strengthen the faith and understanding of the apostles. The apostles need to learn that God is for all. The mission of Jesus extends even to the gentiles. This mission is entrusted later on to Saint Paul. From today's readings we learn that Saint Paul's apostleship is Christ elected. God's kingdom is open to all. God is larger that the preconceived god of the old Jewish people. God is not exclusively for Israel, though he has chosen a race and set them apart from the others. God's love is not fragmented. God is not divided. God never marginalizes.

You may sometimes feel you're an outsider in God's kingdom. Maybe you feel unloved compared to others who enjoy godly privileges. this Sunday should empower you. This Sunday should inflame in you new hope. Please, People of God, get out of your boxed mentality. Raise the level of your expectations. Even if you don't deserve it... ask anyway, who knows God may answer it. He is larger than your thinking.