Isaiah in today's reading speaks of salvation being close at hand and therefore for the need to be righteous. He calls to the entrenched Israelites for a genuine conversion and an acceptance of "foreigners" whom he considers equal to the Israelites, provided they observed certain conditions. Such foreigners can and will share in the liturgical life: "my house will be a house of prayer for all the peoples." (v. 56:7).

St Paul too says something on the same lines of acceptance of the "pagans". Salvation, he says, is freely given to ALL according to the divine plan. Here too we see Jews and Gentiles being reminded of their mutual dependence and their oneness in God's eyes.

Both these readings help us to understand the Gospel account of the Canaanite woman pleading for her daughter's healing. As a Jew, Jesus could not help His ethnic bias when approached by this foreign woman (the word "dog" was a derogatory term commonly used by the Jews for the Gentiles). However, the woman persists in her pleas, displaying an understanding of His position as a Jew, by accepting humbly and yet with a sense of humour that "even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from the master's table." (Mt.15:27). Her determination wins the day, and Jesus commends her great faith, which is all the more remarkable in a person considered an outsider.