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Upcoming Events
- Women Enjoying Rediscovering Our Catholicism - Tuesdays at 9:00 am in Room 1
- Men's Faith Group - Monday, August 17 at 7 pm in Room 1
- Sensory Friendly Mass - Saturday, August 22 at 5 pm
- Red Cross Blood Drive - Saturday, August 29 from 9 am - 2 pm
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- CYO Fall Soccer - registration open for grades 3-6
What's Happening This Week
Scripture
An Introduction to the Sunday Scripture Readings - August 16, 2026
“My House Shall Be Called A House Of Prayer For All Peoples”
Our readings for this Sunday teach us about the wideness of God’s mercy—that one day, all peoples, all nations will be included in the Kingdom of God. But there was an order to salvation in that first Israel, then the Gentiles.
In our first reading (Isaiah 56:1,6-7), the prophet Isaiah tells of the future time when all peoples (including all Gentiles) who "join themselves to the Lord" will be welcomed into the house of the Lord. In biblical language, the term “nations” or “peoples” usually refers to the Gentile, non-Jewish world. It is a time when all people, Jew and non-Jew, will worship the Lord and minister to the Lord equally.
In our Epistle reading (Romans 11:13-15, 29-32), St. Paul is writing to the mixed Church in Rome of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. In this passage, Paul describes the duality of his mission. Yes, he is the “Apostle to the Gentiles” but also so that they will serve as an example to his fellow Jews—”I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them.” If you remember in last week’s Epistle, St. Paul talked about his anguish that his fellow Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ. So yes, his mission is to the Gentile world, but he never loses sight of his desire to bring Christ to his fellow Jews.
Our Gospel reading (Matthew 15:21-28), is the seemingly rude transaction between a Canaanite (Gentile) woman and Jesus, who ignored her plea for help; and at one point even likening her to a dog. But her faith and persistence triumphed and Jesus granted her request to save her daughter from the demon. Jesus used the encounter as a teaching moment to highlight that there is an order to salvation—Israel first, Gentiles second. This Canaanite woman, in a sense, modeled Isaiah’s prophesy in our first reading, in that she joins herself to the Lord, and thus is welcomed by Jesus. Jesus also used her as an example in patience and persistence in prayer.
Most of our ancestors were once Gentiles (non-Jews) who worshiped other gods. And at some point, through the efforts of St. Paul and so many others, and the courageous witness of the martyrs, they came to "join themselves to the Lord". And thus we have come into the wideness of God's mercy. May we lead others to that same mercy through our example and witness.
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081626.cfm