Daily Readings - Wed Aug 04 2021
Numbers
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,2"Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them."25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.27And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.28However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan."30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."31Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."32So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.33And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."
1Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.2And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!26And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,27"How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.28Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:29your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,34According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'35I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
Matthew
21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us."24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."25But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."26And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."28Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.
Sermon
The readings today present us with two powerful stories that invite us to reflect on faith, trust, and the human condition. In the first reading from Numbers, we hear the story of the Israelites as they stand at the threshold of the Promised Land. Despite the promise of a land "flowing with milk and honey," the people are paralyzed by fear and doubt. The spies they sent to scout the land return with a mixed report: while the land is indeed fertile and abundant, its inhabitants are strong and formidable. Faced with this uncertainty, the people murmur against Moses and God, refusing to trust in God's plan. Their lack of faith leads to a tragic consequence: they will wander in the wilderness for forty years, a generation lost to unbelief.
In the Gospel, we encounter a very different kind of faith. A Canaanite woman, desperate for her daughter’s healing, approaches Jesus with persistence and humility. Despite being a Gentile and facing initial rejection, she refuses to give up. Her bold declaration of faith—"Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table"—moves Jesus to commend her faith and grant her request. This woman’s story stands in stark contrast to the Israelites in the wilderness. While the Israelites allowed fear to dominate their hearts, this woman allowed faith to guide her actions, even in the face of uncertainty.
These readings remind us that faith is not about having all the answers or being free from fear. It is about trusting in God’s providence, even when the path ahead seems uncertain. Like the Canaanite woman, we are called to approach God with persistence and humility, trusting that He hears us and desires our good. At the same time, the story of the Israelites warns us about the dangers of letting fear and doubt take root in our hearts. May we learn to trust in God’s plan, even when the challenges seem insurmountable. Let us ask for the grace to have the kind of faith that perseveres and seeks God’s will, no matter the obstacles we face.