Lesson – Ezechiel xviii. 1‒9
In those days, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “What is the meaning that you use among you this parable as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge?’ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “this parable will be no more to you a proverb in Israel. Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins, the same will die. And if a man be just, and do judgement and justice, and has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and has not defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor come near to a menstruous woman; and has not wronged any man, but has restored the pledge to the debtor, has taken nothing away by violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment, has not lent on usury, nor taken any increase, has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and has executed true judgement between man and man, has walked in my commandments, and kept my judgsments, to do according to the truth; he is just, he will surely live,” says the Lord God.Thanks be to God.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
These words of the Prophet declare to us the wonderful mercy of God towards the Gentiles, who are preparing to pass from darkness to light, by the grace of holy Baptism. The Jews had a favourite proverb: The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the Children are set on edge: but God assures us, even in the Old Testament, that sins are personal, that is, they belong to him who commits them, and to no one else; so that, the son of a wicked father, if he walk in the path of righteousness, will find mercy and salvation. The Apostles and their disciples preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were obedient to the call; they were the children of idolaters, and yet they were seen flocking to the font of regeneration, abjuring the evil ways of their fathers, and becoming the objects of God’s love. The same happened in the conversion of the barbarians of the West; it is happening now in our own times among infidel nations; and many will be the Catechumens who, at the coming Easter, will receive the sacrament of Baptism.
God frequently visits children with temporal punishments, because of the sins of their parents; it is a providence, which acts as a check on men, deterring them from evil out of fear of bringing misery on their families. But in the moral order, each individual is treated according to his own merits or demerits; and as God does not impute to a virtuous son the iniquities of the father, so neither do the virtues of the father cover the son’s iniquity. Philip the Fair was the grandson of St. Louis; and Wulfere, the wicked king of Mercia, was father of the two saints, Wulfhad and Euffin. Similar contrasts are often found in families, for, as the Scripture says: God has left man in the hand of his own counsel... Before man is life and death, good and evil; that which he will choose, will be given to him (Ecclestiastes xv. 14, 18). And yet, such is the mercy of the Lord our God, that, if a man has made a bad choice, but afterwards casts away from himself the evil, and turns to what is good, he will surely live, and his repentance will restore to him what he had forfeited.Gospel – Matthew xv. 21‒28
At that time, Jesus went from there, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to Him: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David: my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.” Who answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying: “Send her away, for she cries after us:” And He answering, said: “I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.” But she came and adored Him, saying: “Lord, help me.” Who answering, said: “It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.” But she said: “Yes, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus answering, said to her: “O woman, great is your faith: be it done to you as you will:” and her daughter was cured from that hour.Praise be to you, O Christ.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Jesus is in admiration at this woman’s faith; He praises her for it; He would have us imitate her. And yet, she was a Gentile; probably, she had been an idolatress; but maternal love induces her to come to Jesus, and throw herself at His feet. She obtains from Him her daughter’s cure, and, undoubtedly, her own conversion. It is an illustration of the consoling promise we have just been hearing from the Prophet Ezechiel: there are chosen souls in every race, even in that cursed one of Canaan. Our Lord treats this woman with apparent harshness, although He intends to grant her what she asks: He would have her faith gain strength by being tried, and, by the trial, deserve to be rewarded.
Let us pray, during these days of mercy, with persevering confidence. The daughter of this Canaanite woman was troubled by a devil, that is, her body was possessed by an evil spirit. How many are there, every where in the Church, whose souls are a prey to Satan, by their being in the state of mortal sin! Are they conscious of their misery? Do they beg of our Lord to have mercy on them, and deliver them? And if, at first, He defers their pardon, do they humble themselves like this woman of our Gospel, who confesses that she quite deserves this contempt with which Jesus seems to treat her?
Lost sheep of the House of Israel, make good use of this holy season, when your Good Shepherd is so near to you. Before forty days are elapsed, He will be put to death, and the people that will deny Him will not be His. Before forty days are over, we will be celebrating the anniversary of this great sacrifice; and the sinner that will not be converted from the error of his ways, and will not have come to Jesus, as did this humble woman of Canaan — will deserve to be forever rejected. Let us, then, be earnest in the great work of our conversion, and fit ourselves for pardon. Such is the generosity of our Heavenly Father, that if we desire, with all the sincerity of our soul, to be once more His faithful children, he will give us more than the crumbs which fall from His table; He will give us Jesus, the Bread of Life; and what a pledge of reconciliation is that!
