#LaudatoSiSunday

Peace be with you. A blessed #LaudatoSiSunday, everyone!
Matthew 15:21-28
Today is the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the Gospel, Jesus shows us how faith and compassion work.
Let us join Fr. Dong Estafia, Dean of Studies of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in the Diocese of Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines, in his reflection.
Greetings to the viewers and followers of Living Laudato Si' Philippines! Greetings from the island of Bohol!
In the Gospel today, this 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we can read this encounter between the Lord and this woman from Cana. And at first, we knew that the Lord did not help her because she does not belong to the House of Israel. But because this woman was persistent (explaining) that even just a scrap or the scraps of the food that fall from the table of the master, the dogs can even eat. And because Jesus was impressed of her faith, He cured her daughter at that very moment.
How do we respond to the needs of others? We live now in a world, and in the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si', that in this world, there is what we call a throw-away culture that deeply affects the excluded, the poor, people who live in the fringes of society, in the outskirts of society. But how do we respond to their needs? Do we treat them as people or worse than dogs?
My dear friends, we help others with not just what we have but what we are.
In his encyclical letter, Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home, number 200, Pope Francis reminds us that:
“Believers themselves must constantly feel challenged to live in a way consonant with their faith and not to contradict it by their actions.”
Image:
“Christ and the Canaanite Woman” (1594 - 5) by Ludovico Carracci
MUSIC
“Signore Ti Ristora” by Taizé