Daily Readings August 8, 2012

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Memorial of Saint Dominic, priestLectionary: 409

St. Dominic is the Priest who started the Dominican Order.  After a vision of our Lady, St. Dominic began to preach about the Holy Rosary.  And the spread of the devotion throughout the Church, is largely attributed to him.

Reading 1 Jer 31:1-7

When we left off yesterday, God had just said to Jeremiah that He would be the God of the people of Jacob.  And they would be His people.  The theme continues.

At that time, says the LORD,I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel,and they shall be my people.

God will forgive the people of Israel for the sins of their fathers..

Thus says the LORD:The people that escaped the swordhave found favor in the desert.

He has left for Himself a remnant of the people

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.

And He reminds them of His age old love for them.

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.

Happiness will return to Israel.

Again you shall plant vineyardson the mountains of Samaria;those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits.

They will again enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Yes, a day will come when the watchmenwill call out on Mount Ephraim:"Rise up, let us go to Zion,to the LORD, our God."

And they will again worship the Lord, Our God, on the mountain.

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.

And the Lord tell Jeremiah to inform the people to rejoice.  For He has delivered them from their misfortune again.  He has forgiven them from their sins.  And they will again praise Him as before.

This prophecy has been fulfilled in the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem.  Wherein God has gathered the remnant of His People.

Hebrews 12:22
King James Version (KJV)
²² But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

But it will be fulfilled perfectly, after the Judgement:

Revelation 21:4
King James Version (KJV)
⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Responsorial Psalm Jer 31:10, 11-12ab, 13

Response. (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.

The Psalm repeats the same theme as the first reading.  Emphasizing that God is our Shepherd who brings His flock to glory.

Gospel Mt 15: 21-28

Note:  I love this Gospel passage.  It is about the woman of great faith.  When Protestants object to our baptizing of infants, this is the passage that I most frequently use in defense of the Catholic Tradition to baptize infants.  Why?  Because this passage shows that Jesus Christ saves children based upon the faith of their parents.  There is no indication that the child knows that the mother is talking to Jesus.  Yet, because of the woman's great faith, the child, her daughter, is healed by Jesus Christ.

Note 2:  I also use all of the healing passages to explain the Sacraments and St. Paul's statement that we are saved by faith "apart from works."  Note how neither this woman, nor any of the other people whom Jesus healed, presented to Jesus any works of theirs in exchange for the healing.  All they did was believe that Jesus could do it.  And that is the disposition which we must have at every Sacrament. Every Sacrament is the work of Jesus.  And in every Sacrament we must believe that Jesus can accomplish in us what He promised.

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."

Jesus has gone outside of Judea and is recognized by a foreign woman.  Obviously, not a Jew.

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."

She is either a gentile or an outright pagan.  Therefore His disciples want nothing to do with her.  They don't want to be unclean.

What is the difference between an gentile and a pagan?  A gentile is a non Jew who believes in God.  A pagan is a person who worships nature and/or many gods.

He said in reply,"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Jesus addresses the woman and says, "I have only come for the Jews."

But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."

But the woman insists.  She is not going to be dissuaded easily.

He said in reply,"It is not right to take the food of the childrenand throw it to the dogs."

Jesus tests her very harshly.  He literally compares her and her child to dogs.

She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scrapsthat fall from the table of their masters."

But the woman is not insulted.  She humbles herself even further and asks even for the scraps that are due to dogs.

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.

Our Lord's heart melts (as does the heart, I'm sure, of any parent) and He grants her prayer.  The child is immediately healed.

This story also reminds me of the Shunemite woman and Elisha:

Sincerely,

De Maria