Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time (Year A)

My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples

 Isa 56.1, 6-7;  
Rom 11.13-15, 29-32;  
Mt 15.21-28

In the first reading at Mass today, the prophet Isaiah spoke of foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord.  There were people from outside Israel who, living among the Jews, had come to worship at the Temple and, effectively, to practice the faith.  Isaiah takes an inclusive view: all who observe the Sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain… their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.  The prophet urges the Jews of his time to accept these non-Jews who have decided to worship the God of Israel and live according to the Law.
In Saint Mark’s gospel, when Our Lord, in Holy Week, cleanses the Temple of the money changers, He quotes these words from Isaiah.  Perhaps one of the reasons why Jesus was outraged by the abuse of the Temple was that this would be particularly scandalous to non-Jewish visitors to Jerusalem, who would be able to see what went on the fringe of the Temple precincts.

Although, during the Old Testament times, the Israelites held the Canaanites in abhorrence and contempt, for their idolatrous and impious practices, their false gods, and bizarre worship, with such ideas as temple prostitution.  As a faithful Jew, it is natural for Our Lord to harbor suspicions of anything to do with Canaanites.  His uncomplimentary comment to the cry of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed by a devil reflects this: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house dogs.”  However, He does heal her daughter.  His Sacred Heart opens to the need of a fellow human being and her sick daughter, and He grants her request that her girl may be made well

The first great controversy faced by the Church was the question as to whether or not only Jews could belong to it, or whether non-Jews – sometimes called ‘gentiles’ and sometimes ‘pagans’ – might be admitted.
This does make us stop and think for a moment about our own life as a parish and as the Catholic Church.  What will non-Catholics make of our worship and the life of our parish?  How far do we offer a welcome to strangers, giving them space to come alongside us, to hear the teachings of Jesus and to observe our ceremonies?   We should guard against irreverence in our celebration of the liturgy and against giving the impression that we are an exclusive club from which non-members really ought to be barred. As we gather in the house of God today may we find strength and joy. Amen.

Fr Joseph Osho