Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 20, 2023 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Isa 56:1, 6-7; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Matt 15:21-28]For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. [Isaiah] "I am speaking to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles...." [Romans] "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters!" [Matthew]
Our Catholic church is a vast and complex reality! Many, if not most of us who are "members" of the Latin rite have never attended Mass in one of the many Eastern rites. There are ways of being fully Catholic that would seem strange to us! What does it mean to be a "Catholic?" Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of being a "welcoming Church!" Are there any "boundaries?"
The words from Isaiah in today's first scripture speak of a temple open to anyone who keeps the covenant. St. Paul, after repeated rejection from his fellow Jews, turned his ministry toward "the Gentiles," i.e. non-Jews and reshaped the face of Christianity from being a "sect" of Judaism to being a new faith reality, centered on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel According to Matthew, written for a primarily Jewish-Christian community, shows Jesus responding to the faith of a Canaanite woman, a pagan Gentile. He shows a similar response earlier in this gospel to the Roman centurion who comes to him for help [Matthew 8:5-13].
Those who seek to become members of the Catholic church, at least in the Latin rite, are generally asked to take part in the program of instruction called OCIA (formerly RCIA). There they learn something of the "boundaries" of Catholic belief. But "welcoming" is broader than that. It may mean the way people are greeted when they come to church. In campus ministry, I was very much aware that a student coming to church that day may have come out of curiosity. Maybe their Catholic roommate invited them (and tells them to cross arms in front in the communion line!) There are even baptized Catholics nowadays who feel the church is rejecting them! Welcoming is more than the requirements of theology and devotional behavior. It is an entire attitude of both acceptance and challenge. There ARE boundaries of identity, but they are not the walls of a fortress. AMEN