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Saint Matthew 15:21-28.

by Daily Gospel | Source: Daily Gospel

Book of Isaiah 56:1.6-7.

Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, Loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants-- All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant,

Them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; Their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Psalms 67(66):2-3.5.6.8.

May God be gracious to us and bless us; may God's face shine upon us. Selah
So shall your rule be known upon the earth, your saving power among all the nations.
May the nations be glad and shout for joy; for you govern the peoples justly, you guide the nations upon the earth. Selah
May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you!

May God bless us still; that the ends of the earth may revere our God.

Letter to the Romans 11:13-15.29-32.

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them.

For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may (now) receive mercy.

For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 15:21-28.

Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.


Commentary of the day
Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171), Cistercian monk
Sermon 35, 3rd for the 2nd Sunday in Lent; SC 207

« Sent to the lost sheep of Israel »

      «I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,» the Lord declared. Put briefly...: he has been sent to the one to whom he has been promised. As it is said: «The promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant» (Gal 3,16). The promise made in time was fulfilled in its time, for the Jews from among the Jews, as it is written: «Salvation comes from the Jews» (Jn 4,22). It was to them that Christ, who was born from them according to the flesh, was sent at the end of time. It was to them that he, who was predestined before time began, was promised at the beginning of time. Predestined for both Jews and Gentiles but born from Jews alone, without intermediary according to the flesh, he was made known at his birth in the flesh to those to whom he had been promised...

But the name «Israel» means «the man who sees God». With good reason, then, does it apply to every rational spirit. From this we can understand that «the house of Israel» also includes the angels, those spirits predestined for the vision of God... While these ninety-nine sheep... on the mountain of their shepherd's vision and delight - that is to say of the Word of God – are walking at large and lying down to rest in green and verdant pastures (Ps 23[22],2), the Good Shepherd descends from the Father's side when the «time of pity» (Ps 102[101],14) has come. He has been sent mercifully in time... who was promised from all eternity; he has come to seek for the one sheep that was lost (Lk 15,4f.)...

The good shepherd, therefore, was sent to mend what was broken and to strengthen the weak (cf. Ez 34,16). What was broken and weak was man's free will. In times past, when he wanted to rise above himself, he fell and, lacking the strength to support himself, was crushed down and broken..., completely unable to rise again. But mended and comforted at last by Christ himself..., - although not entirely lively so long as he had not been set down in the green pastures with the ninety-nine others - he was carried in his shepherd's arms, as it is written: «Carrying the lambs in his bosom and leading the ewes with care» (Is 40,11).