In the Gospel for this 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman, who comes to plead with Jesus on behalf of her daughter who is possessed by a demon. In his reflection, Tony Crescio explains that there is a twofold lesson in this episode, one having to do with the life of prayer and the other dealing with authentic inclusivity. In the end, what we discover is that both prayer and inclusivity must be based on the virtues of humility and justice, which deal with reality as it is in all of its messiness.
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Reading 2: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
Tony Crescio is the founder of FRESHImage Ministries. He holds an MTS from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a PhD candidate in Christian Theology at Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the intersection between moral and sacramental theology. His dissertation is entitled, Presencing the Divine: Augustine, the Eucharist and the Ethics of Exemplarity.
Tony’s academic publications can be found here.