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    16 August 2026 – 20th Sunday, (A)

    August 16 2026
    Thara Benedicta
    Key Message: Never, never give up your prayers!! Homily: Teacher asked the students, "Do you know the persons whom Jesus tested in the Gospel?" Students answered, "No, we don't know". The teacher said, "Jesus tested two mothers, first was His own Mamma Mary in the wedding of Cannan and the other was the Cannanite mother of the girl tormented by the devil". "And do you know what happened? Both the moms persisted in their prayer and Jesus granted their requests!!" Our Lord Jesus is astonished at the lack of faith last week, and astonished at the deep faith this week... In last week's Gospel, our Lord Jesus said to his Apostle "Peter You of little faith, why did you doubt?” In today's Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus says to a Cannanite woman, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Let us now ponder how come our Lord Jesus appreciates an ordinary woman, for her deep faith... Have you ever prayed and received silence? You prayed for your child and nothing happened or you prayed for healing but nothing changed... Do you ask this question: "Jesus, are You even listening to me?” If you have ever felt that way, today's Gospel is especially for you. Because a desperate mother comes to Jesus with exactly that experience. She prays and Jesus is silent. She continues to pray and finally Jesus says something extraordinary: “Woman, great is your faith!” Today's Gospel teaches us a beautiful lesson: When we persevere in faith, our tender Jesus hears our prayers. What is the reason behind the mother's prayer being answered? The mother refused to give up. For the first time, we see in the Gospel, when our prayer has been requested, our Lord Jesus said nothing. This is perhaps the hardest sentence in the Gospel: “He did not answer her at all.” Imagine that. She has finally reached Jesus. She has cried out. And Jesus is silent. Many of us know this experience. We can handle a “Yes” but not a "No". More often I feel either a YES or a NO is okay, but not a silence. We do not know what to do in those times. It is easy to believe when the miracle has happened. It is much harder to believe before the miracle happens. The answer is found in today's Gospel. The Gospel says that after the mother requests, our Lord Jesus stays silent and the disciples ask our Lord to send her away. But the mother did not give up. Then further to test her faith, our Lord says, "I am only sent to house of Israel", the mother did not give up again. She took a step forward, came towards her Jesus, knelt down saying, "Lord, help me". And if you notice her prayer, she doesn't begin with a theological speech. She simply cries: “Lord help me.” The most powerful prayers are the prayers of our heart. “Jesus, help me.” We don't need impressive words to reach the heart of God. Why is this silence a test? Don't interpret God's silence as God's absence. This is one of the most important lessons we can take home today. When God is silent, it does not mean God is absent. The teacher is often silent during the examination. But the teacher has not left the room. Sometimes God is doing something deeper than giving us an immediate answer. He may be strengthening our faith or purifying our motives or Teaching us perseverance. Many times we would have personally observed in our past life, that God is silent, when he is preparing circumstances we cannot yet see. So, we should be careful not to claim that every delay is deliberately sent by God as a test. But Scripture repeatedly teaches us that waiting can become a place where faith matures. So when heaven seems silent, keep praying, trusting, coming to Mass, doing what is right, and keep your heart open to all the Blessings God is showering on you. Don't make a permanent decision because of a temporary silence. Like how the disciples said, "Send her away", there will be people discouraging us. It is common. But like the mom, we need to stand firm in our goal. Not hearing the discouraging voices of the people. Please remember: Do not allow the weakness of a friend to make you walk away from our Lord Jesus. “Even the Dogs Eat the Crumbs” Then comes the difficult exchange about the children's bread and the dogs. We need to understand this carefully. Our Lord Jesus is bringing to the surface the historical priority of His mission to Israel, while this encounter will reveal something larger: God's mercy will not be confined by ethnic boundaries. The mother did not walk away offended. Instead, she gives an astonishing response: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.” What faith! The faith that astonished our Lord Jesus!! This was one of the most inspiring statements that made people continue in their persistent prayers!! We need to have the faith that astonishes Jesus. And that situation will come only when we have a longing prayer in our heart for a long time. So do not be discouraged by the long wait times, like the situation in today's Gospel, it is an opportunity for us to show our strong faith in our Lord. A quick note to the parents... Parents, never stop praying for your children. In today's Gospel, the daughter did not even come to our Lord Jesus, but when her mother prayed, our Lord changed her. It is the prayer of a faithful mom and dad that can lift up the children. Never underestimate the power of your prayers for your children. Even though they are going in the wrong way, you can bring them back by your prayers. St. Augustine said that he was the fruit of the prayers of his mom, St. Monica. Pray to the mom of moms, our Mamma Mary!!  Cover them under Her sweet Mantle!!
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    Priests Against Genocide Network Zoom with Cardinal A Ramazzini, Prof Omer Bartof and Fr David Neuhaus SJ

    August 8 2026
    Joe O'Leary
    Gaze = Gaza Auschwitz was the matrix of the greatest change in Christan theology of the last century. Gaza may be that of the greatest change of this century. In both cases coming too late to save the victims.
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    Priests Against Genocide Network Zoom with Cardinal A Ramazzini, Prof Omer Bartof and Fr David Neuhaus SJ

    August 8 2026
    Joe O'Leary
    Soline, thank you for saying what needs to be said. These horrors have thrown into still higher relief those totally shocking Old Testament texts in which the God of Israel commanded the merciless slaughter of children. Something must be done about them; they cannot be treated as inspired and inerrant or as divine revelation. The cowardice of theologians in addressing this issue could well have contributed to the massacres that have now scalded the conscience of humankind, and it could have emboldened Netanyahu in his "Remember Amalek" rhetoric. It took the Holocaust to get us to rethink two millennia of hateful anti-Jewish preaching, back with many acts of violence and persecution. Now the new holocaust in Gaze is forcing Christians to question the violence of Scripture itself. We need to use our theological imagination.
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    Priests Against Genocide Network Zoom with Cardinal A Ramazzini, Prof Omer Bartof and Fr David Neuhaus SJ

    August 8 2026
    Soline Humbert
    Israel continues to commit genocide, atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children, UN independent commission finds. Last year, the commission concluded that “Israel had committed genocide against the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip, found that the intense scale and systematic nature of the Israeli military operations have continued, resulting in unprecedented death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children.” https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/06/1167790 Here are some findings in the commission’s latest report: #Israel has killed 20,000 children and injured 44,000 more since 7 October 2023. #Severe physical and mental injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, repeated displacements, starvation and the collapse of education and healthcare have erased childhood and will continue to affect children in Gaza throughout their lives. #Palestinian children have been arrested and subjected to torture and other severe forms of mistreatment in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, with no information on their whereabouts. #Israeli security forces have used sexual violence against children as part of the collective shaming and oppression, entrenched within a prolonged, ethnic, gendered and intergenerational pattern of occupation and hostilities.
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