St. John Mary Vianney, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Numbers 13:1-2, 25-14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35*

 Yahweh then spoke to Moses,

Saying, “Send men to explore the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites; send one man from each of the ancestral tribes, all of them leaders.” After forty days of exploration, they returned. (….) 

 Then all the community broke out in loud cries and wept during the night.   Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, “How long will this wicked community grumble against me?” I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel against me.  Say to them: As truly as I live, it is Yahweh who speaks, I will do to you what you have said in my hearing.

All of you of twenty years or more, numbered in the census, who grum­bled against me, your corpses will fall in the desert.  According to the number of days spent in exploring the land – forty days, for every day a year – for forty years you shall bear the guilt of your sins and you shall know what it is to oppose me.

 I, Yahweh, have spoken. Surely this is what I will do to this wicked community that has conspired against me. In this wilder­ness they shall be destroyed and this is where they shall die.”

  

Ps 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23

Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Matthew 15:21-28

 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.   Now a Canaanite woman came from those borders and began to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”   But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So his dis­ciples approached him and said, “Send her away: see how she is shouting after us.”

 Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

 But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus and said, “Sir, help me!”   Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs.”  The woman replied, “It is true, sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.”  Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

    

Gospel Reflection：

Mothers have great capacity to bear anything for the sake of their children. They will go to extraordinary lengths at the expense of their own dignity to ensure the well-being of their loved ones. Take for example the Canaanite woman. She is pagan in the eyes of the Jews. Jesus, in the early part of his ministry, is clear in his goals.

He will seek out the lost sheep of Israel. And so, he ignored the woman's plea. But driven by desperation, she continues and does not stop. The disciples become annoyed. The woman's insistence earned her an audience with Jesus. In this, her real battle begins. And she won not because of wit or sullen pride. Her humility unlocked the mercy of heaven. And she goes home rejoicing because of this.