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Post date: Aug 18, 2020 3:24:27 PM

August 16, 2020 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

Years ago, I read a story of a young boy rushing home from school,

thrilled to pieces because he had been chosen to lead the statue

of Our Lady in the May Procession. As he got to the house,

he almost bumped into the next-door neighbor who asked him what all

the excitement was about. The boy told him, and the neighbor laughed and

said he would never understand why Catholics made such a fuss about

Mary. ‘After all,’ he said, ‘she was only a mother who had a son,

as my mother did. So why such a fuss? This temporarily took the wind

out of the boy’s sails, but he stopped and then remarked, saying,

“Yes, that’s true, but what a difference in the sons.”

That is the whole point, isn’t it? It is precisely because Christ is so different

from all other sons that Mary is so different from all other mothers.

“The Immaculate Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished,

was taken body & soul into heavenly glory so that she might be more

fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of Lords and conqueror of death.”

In today’s Gospel, the exchange between Jesus and the woman

confuses our understanding of Jesus.

She seems to become the teacher, He the student.

Naturally, we often focus on Jesus’ name-calling in this passage.

Why did Jesus speak so rudely to the foreign woman?

Sadly, it was common for Jews to refer to foreigners as “dogs”.

Have we ever thought or used derogatory names for people who are

different from us? Or is he testing her, issuing an invitation for her to join

with him as God does for the foreigners in the OT Reading from Isaiah?

If Jesus reminds her of a holy boundary between Israel and outsiders,

she tears it down and impels divine mercy for all.

Jesus praises her for her faith and persistence.

I think one major lesson to be drawn from today’s readings is that

Christ’s message of salvation was meant for everybody,

and that all of us disciples should play our part.

“Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations.”

Be a friend and share what Jesus and your faith mean to you.

Because when human action cooperates with and

even compels the divine,

the result is a mercy that is truly awesome.