20th Sunday of Year A

Isaiah 56:1,6-7
Romans 11:13-15,29-32
Matthew 15:21-28

Spiritual complacency and spiritual indifference.

Among believers, some of us are spiritually complacent. Some spiritually indifferent. My brothers and sisters, this week, the Scripture Readings invite us to reflect: Am I any of these?

What is spiritual complacency? It is the belief that just because we claim Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we think we are guaranteed salvation. How we live and the ways our hearts are disposed do not matter. To draw equivalent to a modern ideology, it is identity politics in a spiritual sense. As a result of spiritual complacency, we lead careless life. We do not strive for righteousness because we think whatever sins we commit, God will forgive anyway. We lead irresponsible lives, such as over-indulging in alcohol, thrills, food, and even drugs. We think no harm will come to us as God will always protect us. We may even look down upon those who do not proclaimed Jesus as Lord, thinking that God will condemn these to eternal damnation. In Biblical times, many Jews are spiritual complacent. We read how St Paul was in “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” on the account of the spiritual complacency of his kindred Jews (Rom 9:2). And Jesus Himself said it bluntly to the chief priests and elders, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Mt 21:31) But it is not just the Jews in Biblical times, many Christians today are spiritual complacency. Hence we reflect: Am I spiritually complacent?

What about spiritual indifference? It is the reluctance to think about our faith, live our faith and grow our faith. Christianity becomes something we do, not something we are. In Biblical times, the Pharisees were scrupulous in obeying the 613 commandments handed down to them but paid scant attention to the spirit of the laws. In our modern equivalent, we can be scrupulous about attending church on Sunday and observing religious rituals, with scant attention to the true meaning of these practices. Manyof us who are born into the faith are particularly susceptible to spiritual indifference. So we ask ourselves: Am I spiritually indifferent?

So, if I am spiritually complacent and spiritually indifferent, what must I do? I must claim my faith as my own, and “live” Christianity, not “do” Christianity. In this regard, the Scripture passages this week seek to jolt us out of our complacency and indifference. They do so by telling us how gentiles, foreigners and non-believers are closer to salvation and lead fuller lives than we are.

In the First Reading, Isaiah told the Jews that heritage does not matter, it is the heart that counts: “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer” (verse 6-7). In the Second Reading, St Paul used the gentiles to motivate the Jews to come back to the faith: “Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them.” (verse 13-14) In our times, we see parallels, where the lives of non-Christians and even non-believers can inspire the salvation of Christians. Think of the many non-believers doing good works in our community – volunteering, feeding the poor, donating to charities, and serving the community. As believers, let us lay down our pride to allow the goodwill of non-Christians and non-believers to inspire us to live our Christian calling of love. By God’s mercy, it is never too late return to our faith. As St Paul wrote in the Second Reading, “Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.” (verse 30-31)

In the Gospel, we read the story of the Canaanite woman. This is a difficult story for many of us to appreciate. But it speaks in a special way to those of us who are spiritually complacent and spiritually indifferent. We read, “a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.'” (verse 22) The Canaanite woman was not a Jew. and hence not among the chosen race. But she was persistent, so much so that the disciples said to Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” (verse 23) At this, Jesus said these seemingly harsh words to the gentile woman: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (verse 24) Taking it further, Jesus even equated gentiles with dogs: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (verse 26) Without the context of the First and Second Reading, we would be puzzled by the seemingly harsh words of Jesus. In truth, Jesus who knows all, knew the woman was a gentile person with great faith, greater than many of the Jews present. He knew His words, though they sounded harsh to the beholders, would not have dampened the woman’s faith. Indeed, on account the of her faith, Jesus’ words drew out this proclamation of faith from the woman: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (verse 27) In other words, as a person of faith, she yearned for God’s blessing irrespective of how it came about. In humility, she said that every little blessing from God is of great value to her. Indeed, the woman persistence and humility before Jesus is a great lesson for all who heard her that day, and indeed for all of us who read the passage today.

Exalting the woman’s faith, Jesus granted the woman His blessing. “‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” (verse 28) My brothers and sisters, let us claim our faith as our very own, not just as something handed down from our parents. Let our faith be something we live, not just rituals we do. How sweet would it be for us to hear these words from Jesus: “Great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Alleluia!