The Church by its very nature is missionary, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. Christ gave a mandate to the apostles commanding them: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19). “Go into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe, shall be condemned” (Mk 16:15). Hence, the Church has an obligation to proclaim salvation that comes from Jesus to every creature not excluding anyone. However, in order to understand the mission of church, it is important we expatiate first on the four characteristics marks of the Church.
The Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. What makes the Church Catholic is the fact that Christ in his saving mission embraces all humanity. Hence, the Universality of the Church flows from the Universality of God’s plan to save all mankind. Prophet Isaiah in the first reading calls the people to maintain Justice and do what is right; because God’s salvation depends on the persons attitude and not on membership in a place. There is a divine acknowledgement for anyone who does what is right and acceptable in the presence of God. No wonder the author reminds us that Blessed will be the one who maintains justice, who does what is right, who keeps the Sabbath and refrains from doing any evil. This blessing is not meant for the Israelites alone but also for the foreigners who live upright lives in the service of God and are faithful to God’s covenant.
All who do this will be led to the holy mountain of the Lord. They will find happiness in the house of prayer, and their holocausts and sacrifices will be accepted on God’s altar. This prophetic statement is important, for it witnesses against the popular nationalistic view of salvation with its claim to reserve the covenant and acceptable prayer to the Jews. This is why the Lord through prophet Isaiah says: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. God’s house will not just be for the Israelites alone, it will include those whom the community considers “outcasts” such as the pagans. This text validates the plan of God that all nations and tongues are brought into unity by the Lord (Isa 66:18-21); which presupposes that no one is excluded from the kingdom of God unless the person who chooses to exclude his or herself.
In the Gospel reading, the location of the dialogue between Jesus and the Canaanite woman which happens to have taken place on the Gentile soil is worth pondering upon. Could it be that Jesus intended to encounter this woman in this particular location of Tyre for the purpose of demonstrating that God’s blessings are not for the Jews alone, but for all people who believe in him? Matthew evangelist made it clear that this woman in question is a descendant of the ancient Canaanites, the bitter biblical enemies of Israel whose paganism had often led Israel into idolatry (Cf. Jub. 22:20-22). She approached Jesus on behalf of her daughter that is being tormented by the demon. At first, Jesus gave no answer to her pleas then later responded that his ministry was directed not to the Gentiles but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 10:5-6).
The people of Israel, being the Lord’s collective firstborn (Exod 4:22), stand first in line to receive the Messiah’s blessings. However, the woman is so desperate that she is not taking no for answer. She persisted and the Lord responded, it is not right to take the food for the Children and throw its to dogs. The woman’s witty reply builds on Jesus’ pronouncement by turning it to her advantage. Without denying the salvation historical precedence of Israel and the focus of Jesus’ ministry, she rejects the idea of exclusivity of Jesus power. Jesus takes the woman’s witty reply as a sign of faith in God’s plan and in his power. This incredible faith of the woman brought healing for her daughter. What are the lessons we can learn from this Canaanites Woman: First, she approached the saviour with faith; second, perseverance in asking Jesus’ help.
Third, her humility. One might expect her to take offense at the comparison between non-Jews and house pets. But the reaction of the woman gives no indication that her pride has suffered any injury. Finally, she rejects the exclusivity of Jesus power. Paul in the second reading addresses directly the Gentiles who formed the majority of believers in the house churches in Rome. Although Paul was commissioned to be “an apostle to the Gentiles”, he magnifies his ministry to his fellow Jews so that they know about his apostolic success among the Gentiles. His purpose is to make them jealous so that they desire to belong to the people who are responding with faith in the Gospel. There is thus a twofold movement reflected in Paul’s words. On the one hand, the Gentiles, who formerly did not share the life of God, now possess that life through faith and conversion. On the other hand, the Jews, who had been chosen, are now dead as far as life in God is concerned, because they did not accept the Word whom God sent, but they too are still being offered a share in the divine life and can pass from death to life.
Then, St. Paul realized God’s purpose behind the Jewish rejection of Jesus was to direct the Church to go to the Gentiles. Redemption was for everybody. The Church is universal in its reach. The reason for the missionary activity lies in the will of God, “who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The church will never rest until the Gospel reaches every heart, every soul, every life. You and I are part of that mission. By the virtue of our Baptism, we don’t belong to the Church, we are the Church. on a practical level, we go to places where priests don’t go. We speak to people who will never speak with a priest.
We encounter people who will never see a missionary. Each of us is here because at some point someone cared enough to share the faith with us. Are we willing to do the same? Everyone who believed in Jesus Christ has a stake in the kingdom of God, we should not be too complacent that salvation only exists in the Catholic Church. Despite the fact that we possess the fullness means of salvation does not mean that there is no salvation outside the church. However, one of the criteria of attaining salvation according to Prophet Isaiah is to be just to our neighbours, if we could do this, then we all would be led to the holy mountain, we will find happiness in the house of prayer, and our holocausts and sacrifices will be accepted on God’s altar.
