340. Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Meditations no. 597 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

We must bring all souls closer to God.

JESUS has retired to the region of Tyre and Sidon, Phoenician cities that were never part of Galilee. In this area, inhabited by a mainly pagan population, he could devote himself more calmly to the formation of the twelve Apostles and to preparing them in a special way for the decisive question that he will soon address to them in Caesarea Philippi, and which will mark a new stage in Jesus’ relationship with the Apostles: who do men say that the Son of Man is?

Jesus was passing by and a Canaanite woman began to cry out: Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is cruelly possessed by the devil. It is the cry of a mother, the expression of intense pain and great faith in the Master of nearby Galilee. She probably does not know him, but she has heard about him, his words and his miracles. Jesus does not respond immediately and the disciples intercede for her, rather seeking her own tranquility: attend to her and let her go, because she comes crying behind us. The Master explains the reason for his silence: I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And, at the insistence of that mother, he adds: it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

It is not easy to grasp exactly the nuances of this answer, which in no way implies contempt for that person. The tone of Jesus’ voice must have been affectionate, because the woman, with a quick feminine intuition, adapts herself to the image of the Master and answers: It is true, Lord, but even the little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. In the face of this manifestation of exemplary faith and abandonment, Jesus Christ grants her what he asks: Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.

Today too, a multitude of people look with hope to Christ, who is the content of the Good News proclaimed by the Church. During his earthly life, Jesus focused his preaching on the lost sheep of the house of Israel, although on several occasions he heeded the prayers of others, such as this Canaanite woman or the centurion of Capernaum. But before returning to the Father, he gives an apostolic mandate to the Twelve, valid forever: Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

The call to Opus Dei reinforces in each of the faithful of the Prelature - men and women - the universal vocation to holiness and to the apostolate of all Christians. We are for the multitude, our Father often said, and he reminds us of this through his successors. Even if a more or less large environment may seem unprepared to receive the Good News of the Lord, and even indifferent or hostile, in the depths of all hearts burns the desire for a fuller life.

“The Lord knew why he had come, that is, to have a Church in all nations,” says St. Augustine about the Gospel episode we are considering, and that is why he does not reject the Canaanite woman. The Apostles, on the other hand, had grown tired of her insistence and wanted to send her away. They did not yet know the universal scope of their mission. When Pentecost comes, the Holy Spirit will transform them into other Christs and then they will learn to react with a new spirit and not according to the old letter. In the Mass today we ask God: O Lord, set our hearts on fire with the fire of your love, so that, loving him in everything and above all, we may obtain those goods that we cannot even imagine and that you have promised to those who love you.

No one can be indifferent to us.

IN THE course of the history of the chosen people, the Most Holy Trinity progressively reveals his loving plan to offer salvation to all people. He calls again and again, proposing a covenant, as the Eucharistic Prayer IV recalls: foedera pluries hominibus obtulisti… .

The first reading of the Mass - a short passage from the prophet Isaiah - prepares us for the Gospel, making clear the universal will of salvation. After encouraging the chosen people to be faithful, practicing justice, God places before their eyes a horizon without limits. This is what the Lord says: keep the right and do justice, for soon my salvation will come and my righteousness will be revealed. To the children of the stranger who will adhere to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, and to all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and keep my covenant, I will bring them into my holy mountain, I will give them joy in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be pleasing to me on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

That holy mountain is Calvary, where Christ sacrificed himself in a sacrifice pleasing to God in order to rise gloriously. He is the true temple for all humanity, as he once declared: destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up; and the evangelist John comments: He was referring to the temple of his body. Jesus entered heaven: Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with a man’s hand - a representation of the true one - but into heaven itself, to intercede now before God on our behalf.

God desires that all peoples share in joy in his house of prayer. He wants the sacrifices and efforts of every woman and man to be pleasing to him on his Altar, which is Christ himself, the one Victim and the one Priest. He desires that the whole of humanity take part in the Sacrifice of Calvary that is made present in every place throughout history with the Eucharistic celebration.

Every day at Holy Mass we are with Christ on the Cross, next to Mary, looking at all humanity. We offer ourselves with him, remembering his words: truly, truly, I say to you, if a grain of wheat does not die when it falls to the ground, it remains fruitless; but if it does die, it produces much fruit. Then we try to live the whole day as an extension of the Mass, contemplating the crowd with affection. Each and every one is alter Christus, ipse Christus, following the teaching of St. Paul: I live, but it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Yours is a small love if you do not feel zeal for the salvation of all souls.” “Poor love is yours if you do not feel like beating your folly on other apostles.

From the place where we live and work, our charity extends to the whole world. That is why prayer must always be full of apostolic zeal: we ask the Paraclete for light to see possible initiatives for the day that begins, for next week, for a new year. There are many souls who, perhaps without knowing it, seek the salvation that only Christ can give. And Christians who have living faith must extract these graces from God. “See how great a woman played a part in the healing of her daughter,” explains St. John Chrysostom. “For this reason Christ did not say to her: ‘Your daughter is healed,’ but: ‘Great is your faith. Let it be done as you wish.’ By which he gives us to understand that his words were not said without reason, nor to flatter the woman, but to indicate to us the strength of faith.”

We express this apostolic zeal well when at the end of the Eucharistic Exposition and Blessing we sing: Praise yourself Dominum omnes gentes, praise yourself eum omnes populi; quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia eius, et veritas Domini manet in aeternum; praise the Lord, all nations, acclaim him, all peoples. Because his mercy is firm toward us, the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Today we say it again in the Responsorial Psalm, continuing the reading from the prophet Isaiah. May the peoples praise you, O God, may all the peoples praise you (…). May God have mercy on us and bless us, make his face shine upon us. That your way may be known on earth, your salvation in all nations. … May the nations rejoice and acclaim you, for you judge the peoples with righteousness and lead the nations of the earth.

The apostolate ad fidem.

Saint Paul bore witness to Christ who died and rose again before a multitude of people, especially non-Jews. But he dreams of the conversion of his own people and writes to the Romans: “To you Gentiles, I say: since I am indeed an apostle to the Gentiles, I do honour to my ministry, in case in any way I provoke jealousy among my people and save some of them. For if his reprobation is reconciliation of the world, what will be his restoration if not a life that rises from the dead? This fire of charity that consumes the heart of the Apostle to the Gentiles moves us to give thanks to God for the love of the apostolate ad fidem that Christ himself has placed in the faithful of Opus Dei.

In professional work, in social relationships, in participating in public life, we find people of different Christian confessions, or of other religions, or non-believers. In many cases, the Lord places in our path Catholics who say they are not practicing, or who claim to have lost the faith. We must follow the example of Jesus, who cares for the Canaanite woman and seeks everyone. Act like St. Paul, who does not cease in his zeal to win those of his race, for a divine motive. Because God’s gifts and vocation are irrevocable.

God’s love for men, revealed in Christ, is irrevocable. It reaches everyone until the end of time, whatever the cultural and historical circumstances that may arise. Paul has his own experience of divine mercy and understands that the history of each person reveals this loving action of the Most Holy Trinity. This same conviction must fill us with gratitude, compunction, and the desire to love everyone and to become friends with many people, overcoming barriers. For it will be normal for us to have friends in various situations: some are close to God, others seek him, others may even oppose or go through a period of rebellion.

Every day we ask God: that they may all be one; as You, Father, in me and I in you, that they may be in us (…). That they may be one as we are one. As St. Josemaría wrote, we have a predilection for the apostolate ad fidem: noble and loyal people who, by approaching us on the occasion of professional work and feeling won over by the sincere friendship and affection of my children, will gradually lose all possible aversion or indifference towards the Church, and will gladly collaborate in our apostolate, at least for their human value; and who, with the prayer and mortification of all, and with a delicate and prudent catechesis, will be able to receive the grace of conversion and the joy of faith, on the foundation of their rectitude.

As Mother of Christ, Holy Mary is also the Mother of the Church and the Mother of all humanity. We ask for her help so that we may not be satisfied with what has already been accomplished: that she may discover for us new fields of apostolate and give us a heart to the measure of the Heart of her Son and of her own, so that our concern may extend to all without exception.