20th Sunday Ordinary Time August 16, 2026

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

Jesus lived and taught by his example, his way of living and his way of relating to others. The story in today’s Gospel is very strong because of this way of thinking. Jesus does not want to help the Canaanite woman who asks His help. Jesus is convinced that his call from God is to help his own Jewish people. And that is indeed His call: to help His own people. But He needs to grow in His understanding of who His people are.

All of us must go through this process of widening our horizons. We must learn in a very practical way that every other person is my sister, my brother, my mother, my father. We are invited to love every other person and desire their eternal salvation. This way of loving others is always put to the test when we meet someone who is really difficult to love. The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, is about loving people who don’t belong to our own religious group, but who are honestly seeking the living God. The second reading is directly about the role of the Jewish people in salvation history and we must be attentive to understand and respect their role and to love the ways of the Lord. The Gospel brings us back to this Canaanite woman who simply cries out to God for help for her daughter.

So today we can think about several challenges to our way of thinking. Do we love anyone enough to cry out to the Lord day and night for their well-being? If not, then we need to work at loving more. If we do love someone or some others with that much love, are we willing to love our enemies with that same intensity of love? If not, then perhaps we need still to work at loving more. If we are willing to love all people, are we then willing to give our lives for them? This is the ultimate challenge of living the Gospel today: to live as Jesus lived in every aspect of our lives—today and every day.

Let us give thanks for the faith that is given us and ask our loving God to increase our faith. Let us ask that we can have the courage and conviction to love all others and to love our enemies and to give thanks to the Lord for His love for us.