Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 / Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 / Matthew 15:21-28
It is said that everyone is equal, but it also has to be said that there are differences.
It is undeniable that some people, or some groups, seem to have more privileges, more advantages, and more opportunities.
They have a head start over the rest, and they also seem to be in the lead all the way. They have gifts and talents that stand out from the ordinary people.
We admire them, and we may even envy them, because they make it look easy what is difficult for us, and what is like natural to them is a struggle for us.
So, we may think that we are just ordinary people, much like the rest of the ordinary people.
Yes, by and large, we are ordinary people, living ordinary lives, and we won't think of doing anything extraordinary in life.
And if we want to have any achievements or success in life, there is no other way than the way of hard work and sweat.
Even when it comes to faith in God, we have our doubts, and we think that we cannot be as holy as the Saints.
As we know, the Jews were God's Chosen People. It was to them that God revealed Himself and made a covenant with them.
Today's gospel passage is written by Matthew, himself a Jew, and who was a tax collector before Jesus called him.
He was probably with the disciples who witnessed that encounter between Jesus and the Canaanite woman.
In today's Gospel account, we may wonder why Jesus seemed to be brushing off that Canaanite woman and making it so difficult for her.
But when Matthew wrote this account, he was simply stating that Jesus came for the Jewish people, because they were the Chosen Race, they were God's Chosen People.
They have the privilege of God's first blessings over other people and they were proud of it.
But Matthew also steered the gospel passage to a wider perspective, when he showed that Jesus will also grant God's blessings to outsiders, to those who do not belong to that Jewish people.
That final statement of Jesus state a profound point when He said this to the Canaanite woman: Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.
So more than just advantages and privileges, God's blessings are granted to those who have faith in Him.
This gospel passage is important to us because it states two things. One is that we, the Church, are also God's Chosen People because we believe that Jesus Christ is our Saviour.
And the other point is that, like that Canaanite woman, we live by faith. With faith, we turn disadvantage into a direction, an obstacle into an opportunity, a trial into a testimony.
That was what the Canaanite woman did, and she even taught us a simple and powerful prayer: Lord, help me.
And Jesus will help us, each one of us, when we take a good grip on our faith.
And when each of us come together in prayer and worship, we are not just an ordinary group of people, we are God's People, we are God’s children, we call God “Our Father”.
Together, we unite as Church in prayer for each other that God will bless our needs.
Together, we pray for the world and the problems that the world is facing that God will grant peace and harmony.
Together, we persevere and persist in our faith like that Canaanite woman did.
Yes, we are not an ordinary people, we are God's People, we are God's children.
God will listen to our prayer, and send forth His blessings when we pray: Lord, help me. Lord, help us.