Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last week, the readings invited us to look toward Jesus in the midst of life’s storms, trusting that He would lead us, His Church, to safety. This week’s readings help us to understand our identity as members of the Church and teach us to ask God for the things that we need to continue on your journey to the Heavenly Jerusalem and the eternal banquet that is prepared for each and every one of us. What does it mean when we say “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”? These question will inform our journey over the next month, reflecting on who we are as a parish, the meaning of our work as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, and our identity as members of the Church.

The Canaanite woman comes to Jesus in the regions of Tyre and Sidon in today’s gospel, asking that He heal her daughter. There are two things we should pay attention to in this passage: First, that Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of God outside of Jewish territory, and, second, that the unnamed woman is a Canaanite, a member of the nation that historically opposed faith in the one God. Jesus proclaims the Gospel to all nations, beginning with His own people and inviting all into communion with a universal covenant with our Heavenly Father. He not only invites people into communion with God but also recognizes that their individual cultures and experiences contribute to the life of all believers. Jesus wants us to cry out, “O God, let all the nations praise You.” This acclamation even extends to persons who are radically different from our own experience, to people who we may have believed to be our enemies. Why? Because they are our sisters and brothers in their pursuit of what is good, true, and beautiful.

This is part of what the word “catholic” means-that the universal call to communion with the one Church exists to the extent that men and women “observe what is right, do what is just.” Yes, that reality already exists in our Church through the Sacraments, through Sacred Scripture, through the Magisterium, but God’s desire is not yet fully realized because of divisions. We must work toward eliminating divisions while allowing each community to keep its own identity, its own traditions. We must learn that our individual faith is enriched when we learn from own another.

What does this mean for us, here at Our Lady of Guadalupe? As members of the universal Church, we must reach out to everyone in our world. As members of the local church in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, we must unite in working for what is truly good for all members of our community, learning from one another through constructive dialogue. As members of our parish, we must become one community of faith, united by our shared pilgrimage toward our true home, the holy mountain of God. I invite you to reflect this week on how we can unite together as a community and work for the good of all those who live in our parish.