Expanding Our Hearts and Our Minds

 

Deacon Dave · Expanding Our Hearts and Our Minds

Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 16, 2026. Readings: Isaiah 56:1-7; Romans 11:13-32; Gospel of St. Matthew 15: 21-28. Theme: Expanding Our Hearts and Our Minds 

 In the Scriptures today we hear God calling us to a change of heart and mind in our human tendency to judge those whom we deem to “unfit” or “unworthy” to be in a relationship with Him. In the first reading God calls Israel, through His prophet Isaiah, to expand their hearts and minds in order to welcome outsiders into their worship. You see, they had developed the exclusive idea that only the Chosen People were pleasing to God and therefore only their worship was acceptable to the Lord. But God informs them that their most sacred place of worship, the holy Jerusalem Temple, was intended to be a “house of prayer for all peoples.” Unfortunately, this message of inclusivity was not well received nor obeyed! 

 In our second reading, St. Paul takes up the same theme of expanding our hearts and minds. In his day the Church in Rome was in the midst of a power struggle of sorts, an ongoing in-house argument between Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity. He reminded the Jewish Christians to stop looking down on their Gentile brethren and remember that once upon a time they were considered “nobodies” among the nations of the world. And that it was only by God's free and generous grace were they themselves were able to become “somebodies” as His Chosen People. And in turn he told Gentile Christians to stop denigrating the Jewish members of the Church and realize that they owed their faith in Christ to them for it was through Israel that the Messiah came into the world.. So, St. Paul is basically telling both factions to get off their high horse and to remember , as we say, “who you are and where you came from”. 

 This same dynamic of expanding hearts and minds is the theme of our Gospel reading. Jesus and his disciples are being pestered by a Gentile woman who is quite insistent on being heard! The disciples’ are annoyed by her attitude and beg Jesus to get her off their backs! As they see it, she is both pagan and female and thus has no business whatsoever speaking publicly and directly to a man, let alone a devout rabbi, such as Jesus. However, the woman ignores their rebukes and persists in her plea to Jesus. Like any devoted mother she would not take “no” for an answer when it came to her sick child. 

 Our Lord responds by telling her that He was sent first of all as Messiah to the Jews saying, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Gentiles were sometimes rudely referred to as “dogs” in ancient Jewish culture and it may seem shocking to us to hear Jesus taking up that same kind of language. However, in reality He was testing the depth and sincerity of her faith as we will see. She humbly responded to His words by admitting that while the Israelites were indeed children of God, this didn't mean that Gentiles were left out of the picture! And the way she did this was quite interesting and bold! 

 You see, there are two words for "dogs" in the Greek language of the Bible and the woman’s clever play on words is missed in most of our English translations. The word that Jesus used was "kunon" which meant a wild dog. But the lady used a related word "kunarion" which means a tame dog or a puppy. So in her quick wit, she responded by saying that not all dogs are feral and that some are beloved house pets who are well-cared for and fed by their owners! I think we can almost hear a chuckle in Jesus' response as perhaps he thought to Himself, "Good one! Great come back!" And so, the woman’s daughter was healed because of her faith in Jesus as Messiah of all people. She recognized correctly that if He so wished, He could open the door for Gentiles to share in the Lord’s table alongside the Jews. 

 This Gospel is showing us that the Heart of Jesus excludes no one from His mercy and kind love. That what counts is faith in Him and not who you are or where you come from. His mission expanded to grant her request and heal her daughter. This expansion of heart and mind is at the very core of the Gospel message, of what it means for us to live and think and act as Christians. We are to accept others because God accepts both us and them. We are to forgive others because God forgives both us and them. And we are to love others because God loves both us and them. Does this describe our outlook towards others, especially those we might think of as beyond the reach of God? It's a tall order but Jesus never asks the impossible of us. He knows it’s a struggle for us to love as He loves and that we simply cannot do it on our own. And so He gives us supernatural power by coming to dwell within us through Holy Communion. 

 The Risen Lord working from within us can expand our own hearts if we allow it by giving Him permission to do so. He can heal us of the spiritual cancer of exclusivity and superiority and enable us to see the reflective image of God even in those whom we do not naturally like. Through consistent and mindful reception of the Eucharist He can transform us and re-make us from the inside out so that we accept those whom God accepts, so that we forgive those whom God forgives, and so that we love those whom God loves. And that, my friends, is everyone.