# Chosen for the Sake of the World - Bishop Barron's Daily SermonSermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 6 Jul 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72733578/chosen_for_the_sake_of_the_world_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you friends. Our gospel today is from
[0:02] Speaker 1: Matthew chapter fifteen, the famous story of Jesus and the
[0:06] Speaker 1: zero Phoenician woman. Now, I found my years of preaching
[0:09] Speaker 1: this is one of those gospels that bothers people. And
[0:12] Speaker 1: they come up to you afterwards, and even after your homily,
[0:15] Speaker 1: which you think is cleared up every question, they still say, Look,
[0:18] Speaker 1: I don't get it. This gospel unnerves me. You know
[0:22] Speaker 1: the story where Jesus is up now in this region
[0:25] Speaker 1: of tire inside and so it would be just outside
[0:28] Speaker 1: of the borders of Israel, and he comes across this
[0:31] Speaker 1: Canaanite woman and she cries out to him, have pity
[0:34] Speaker 1: on me, Lord, son of David, my daughter is tormented
[0:36] Speaker 1: by a demon. Now, normally, Jesus, you know, okay, I
[0:39] Speaker 1: will act, I will do something. He responds, well, this one,
[0:44] Speaker 1: there's such a sort of off putting quality. Right, So
[0:48] Speaker 1: Jesus first did not say a word and answer to her.
[0:51] Speaker 1: Now can you imagine, you know, someone comes up to
[0:53] Speaker 1: you and asks a favor and you don't even say
[0:56] Speaker 1: I'm sorry or I can't do it right now, You
[0:58] Speaker 1: don't even say a word to us. And then the
[1:01] Speaker 1: disciples come so Jesus entourage, they kind of get out
[1:05] Speaker 1: her case and they, you know, asked to send her away,
[1:11] Speaker 1: and she keeps persisting, and Jesus says, no, no, I've
[1:15] Speaker 1: been sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel,
[1:17] Speaker 1: not to women such as this. And then when she
[1:22] Speaker 1: keeps persisting, what does he say? And it's one of
[1:25] Speaker 1: the harshest things. It seems that he says in the gospels,
[1:29] Speaker 1: it's not right to take the food of the children
[1:31] Speaker 1: and throw it to the dogs. So here's this woman
[1:33] Speaker 1: who's in great need. She's asking, mind you, not for herself,
[1:37] Speaker 1: but for her daughter. She's come in faith, it seems
[1:41] Speaker 1: to Jesus, calling him the son of David. And she's
[1:44] Speaker 1: just put off, you know, again and again, and then
[1:48] Speaker 1: she has one of the great comeback one liners in
[1:51] Speaker 1: the gospels. Well please, Lord, even the dogs eat the
[1:55] Speaker 1: scraps that fall from the table their masters. At this
[1:58] Speaker 1: point Jesus says, okay, you know, I will do what
[2:00] Speaker 1: you ask because your faith is great. Well, you can
[2:03] Speaker 1: see why this bothers people. Well, here's Jesus, the sinless Christ,
[2:07] Speaker 1: and he seems to be pretty grouchy, pretty grumpy as
[2:11] Speaker 1: disciples were used to them being a little bit obnoxious,
[2:14] Speaker 1: but Jesus himself. And then to throw this line into
[2:19] Speaker 1: the face of this woman who's in great need and
[2:22] Speaker 1: calling her a dog. Essentially, what do we make of this? Okay?
[2:28] Speaker 1: Can I tell you, first of all, how not to
[2:30] Speaker 1: read this story. Even though I heard growing up probably
[2:33] Speaker 1: one hundred homileys along this line, this is not the
[2:36] Speaker 1: way to read it. Well, poor Jesus had a tough
[2:39] Speaker 1: day of ministry, and yeah, he was grumpy and grouchy
[2:42] Speaker 1: the end of the day, tired, probably hungry. And this
[2:45] Speaker 1: woman comes up and she's pestering him, and so he
[2:48] Speaker 1: kind of snaps at her. You know, it shows his
[2:50] Speaker 1: humanity and it shows his limitations. And then this plucky
[2:55] Speaker 1: Cerrio Phoenician woman, she hangs in there and she speaks
[2:58] Speaker 1: truth to power and so then and she shows how
[3:01] Speaker 1: clever she is and she gets what she wants. Please everybody,
[3:05] Speaker 1: that's not how to read this story. The problem number
[3:08] Speaker 1: one with that is, say what you want. It turns
[3:11] Speaker 1: Jesus into a sinner. And we can't have the sinless
[3:14] Speaker 1: son of God being a sinner. Even to say, oh,
[3:17] Speaker 1: he's grumpy and grouchy after a long day's work. Still,
[3:21] Speaker 1: I don't care how grumpy and grouch I am. At
[3:23] Speaker 1: the end of the day, I start snapping at people
[3:25] Speaker 1: and calling them names. Well, that's a sin. So we
[3:29] Speaker 1: can't interpret this story as though Jesus becomes a sinner,
[3:32] Speaker 1: because the minute Jesus becomes the sinner, he's not the savior.
[3:36] Speaker 1: So this is a serious problem. So let's get rid
[3:40] Speaker 1: of that interpretation. I think we're meant to read this
[3:43] Speaker 1: in a much more subtle way. It's driving at an
[3:47] Speaker 1: issue which is very central to the Bible. It's the
[3:49] Speaker 1: issue of the relationship between Israel and the other nations. Okay,
[3:57] Speaker 1: Israel and the other nations. Is Israel the special chosen
[4:02] Speaker 1: people of God? Yes, yes, well, I guess that means
[4:06] Speaker 1: the other nations are kind of in the outer darkness. No,
[4:10] Speaker 1: Israel has been chosen for the sake of the nations. See,
[4:15] Speaker 1: that's the principle. And this is a good example of
[4:18] Speaker 1: a New Testament instantiation of that principle. Go right back,
[4:23] Speaker 1: everybody to the very beginning of the Bible, when God
[4:26] Speaker 1: creates the heavens and the earth. There's no Israel at
[4:30] Speaker 1: that time. There's God creating all that is God's selvific
[4:37] Speaker 1: purpose has to do not just with Israel. It has
[4:40] Speaker 1: to do with the whole universe. More to it. Think
[4:43] Speaker 1: of those opening stories that Noah, for example, Noah's not
[4:47] Speaker 1: an israel life. There's no Israel the time of Noah.
[4:50] Speaker 1: But yet God is concerned for him. God's concern is
[4:55] Speaker 1: with all of his creation and with all of humanity. Now,
[5:00] Speaker 1: what's the means? It's very important, everybody, It's very important
[5:03] Speaker 1: to get this because a lot hinges in the Bible
[5:06] Speaker 1: upon this. What's the means that God chose to deal
[5:09] Speaker 1: with his whole creation and all of humanity. The means
[5:14] Speaker 1: chosen is the formation of a particular people, Israel. So
[5:20] Speaker 1: beginning with Abraham, remember the call of Abraham, and then
[5:23] Speaker 1: from him Isaac and Jacob, then to Moses and Joshua,
[5:28] Speaker 1: and Zaul and David. We have the Temple, we have Torah,
[5:32] Speaker 1: we have Covenant, we have prophecy, we have all the
[5:34] Speaker 1: institutions of Israel. What was the purpose of all of that?
[5:38] Speaker 1: It was to form a holy people according to God's
[5:44] Speaker 1: mind and heart, who would then draw to themselves all
[5:51] Speaker 1: the nations of the world, or shift the metaphor from
[5:54] Speaker 1: that central place would go out God's good order, so
[5:59] Speaker 1: as to bring all the world into union with the
[6:02] Speaker 1: Creator God. Israel's chosen. Yes, they're the special people, right,
[6:11] Speaker 1: But they're not chosen for themselves. They're chosen for the
[6:16] Speaker 1: sake of the world. Now, once you get that, it's
[6:20] Speaker 1: like a key that locks all kinds of doors in
[6:22] Speaker 1: the Bible. You begin to understand the vocation of Israel.
[6:27] Speaker 1: Now I'm dating myself here. There's an old album by
[6:31] Speaker 1: John Lennon back in the seventies. It's called Walls and Bridges.
[6:36] Speaker 1: I've always liked that that phrase, walls and bridges, because
[6:42] Speaker 1: you know what, everybody you need both. What do walls do?
[6:47] Speaker 1: Walls define? They set something apart, They include and they exclude. Right,
[6:57] Speaker 1: you put a wall around something. You're saying it's this,
[7:00] Speaker 1: it's this identity, and it's not things outside walls define.
[7:07] Speaker 1: Is there a great wall around Israel? Yes, all through
[7:11] Speaker 1: the Old Testament, go back to like the Book of
[7:13] Speaker 1: the Viticus, the Book of Numbers, much of the Book
[7:15] Speaker 1: of Exodus. Look at the prescriptions of the law, look
[7:19] Speaker 1: at the practice of the temple. What was all that
[7:22] Speaker 1: meant to do? It was meant to circumscribe this particular people.
[7:30] Speaker 1: They were not to be like the other nations, because
[7:32] Speaker 1: if they just became like the other nations, they lose
[7:35] Speaker 1: their integrity, and then they would not be able to
[7:40] Speaker 1: bring anything to the wider world. Right, if the walls
[7:44] Speaker 1: of Jerusalem were breached and in came all the other
[7:46] Speaker 1: cultures with their false worship and their bad moral practice
[7:50] Speaker 1: and so on, Israel would lose its soul. And if
[7:53] Speaker 1: Israel lost its soul, then the hope of salvation.
[7:56] Speaker 2: For the whole world would be lost. Therefore, by God,
[8:00] Speaker 2: we need walls. Israel needed walls, It needed definition. But
[8:07] Speaker 2: remember walls and bridges. Finally, having been defined.
[8:15] Speaker 1: Adequately, Israel now constructs a bridge so as to bring
[8:21] Speaker 1: its life out into the wider world. I've used the
[8:25] Speaker 1: name as before of Noah's Arc. Right, that something was
[8:29] Speaker 1: preserved within the walls of Noah's Ark. Look, if there
[8:33] Speaker 1: were no walls on that ship, it would have sunk
[8:36] Speaker 1: period everything on it would have been lost. The walls
[8:39] Speaker 1: defined Noah's Ark. But then once the floodwaters receded, the
[8:46] Speaker 1: life was let out. That's the biblical rhythm. Okay, Now
[8:52] Speaker 1: go back to this story. With all of that in mind.
[8:55] Speaker 1: This is not Jesus having a hard day and a
[8:58] Speaker 1: plucky lady talking back to him. That's a that's a
[9:02] Speaker 1: modern imposition. What are we seeing here, but on vivid
[9:06] Speaker 1: narrative display the very principles I've been talking about. What
[9:12] Speaker 1: is the point of all this kind of off putting
[9:14] Speaker 1: move by Jesus and the apostles. It's a kind of
[9:18] Speaker 1: acting out, if you will, of the fact of the walls.
[9:23] Speaker 1: It's a statement of the definition of Israel. I've come
[9:28] Speaker 1: for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. That's
[9:31] Speaker 1: the opening move that Israel must have its own definition.
[9:37] Speaker 1: But see, how's the story end. It doesn't end there
[9:42] Speaker 1: with Israel simply exulting in its distinctiveness. No, finally, and
[9:49] Speaker 1: how beautiful. This woman is a beautiful figure in the
[9:52] Speaker 1: New Testament because she represents all the nations of the
[9:56] Speaker 1: world who are sensing the beauty and int hegrity of
[10:00] Speaker 1: Israel and are seeking life from it. She's there as
[10:04] Speaker 1: we're at the wall, saying please, I want what you have.
[10:09] Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, in this story, Jesus,
[10:12] Speaker 1: who had first emphasized the wall quality, now establishes the
[10:18] Speaker 1: bridge her faith becomes a bridge from her side, his
[10:24] Speaker 1: mercy becomes a bridge from the other side, and now
[10:28] Speaker 1: something of the grace and life of Israel goes out
[10:31] Speaker 1: to the wider world. That's why she's a beautiful symbol,
[10:35] Speaker 1: not of like a plucky you know, plucky clever gal.
[10:39] Speaker 1: She's a symbol of the nations of the Church which
[10:45] Speaker 1: is received through this bridge of Christ, the life and
[10:49] Speaker 1: grace of Israel. Let me just close with this. Lets
[10:52] Speaker 1: you say, okay, well, that's all very interesting, you know,
[10:54] Speaker 1: biblical interpretation. But see, everybody, it's all about us. I
[10:59] Speaker 1: think of in my own life. You know how many
[11:02] Speaker 1: graces I receive to be born into the family I
[11:04] Speaker 1: was born into. My parents wonderful devout Catholics, sent me
[11:08] Speaker 1: to Catholic school for my formation, to Mass every Sunday.
[11:12] Speaker 1: I was exposed to the best of the Catholic intellectual
[11:15] Speaker 1: and artistic tradition, and all of these wonderful things that
[11:19] Speaker 1: were given to me. It's a grace. I didn't earn them,
[11:23] Speaker 1: I didn't achieve them. They were kind of given to
[11:25] Speaker 1: me as a grace. Why that I might just rest
[11:31] Speaker 1: in them and say, you know, aren't I a nice boy?
[11:34] Speaker 1: Because I got these these special gifts. Now no, no,
[11:37] Speaker 1: I sees my own life is unfolded. The whole point
[11:40] Speaker 1: of that was that I might then be able to
[11:42] Speaker 1: share what I was given to the wider world, which
[11:47] Speaker 1: I'm doing right now through this camera in front of me,
[11:52] Speaker 1: which is functioning as a kind of bridge to the nations.
[11:57] Speaker 1: But again remember remember, unless there were walls at one
[12:01] Speaker 1: point in my life, unless something had been defined for me,
[12:07] Speaker 1: I'd have nothing substantial to give. See, in some ways,
[12:11] Speaker 1: the liberal conservative battle. I know it's complex, but one
[12:15] Speaker 1: way to look at it, it comes down to this,
[12:17] Speaker 1: are you more of a walls person more of a
[12:18] Speaker 1: bridges person. So liberals tend to be all about bridges,
[12:22] Speaker 1: you know, looking out to the wider world and establishing
[12:25] Speaker 1: connection and contact. Well great, I love bridges, But bridges
[12:29] Speaker 1: are useless unless they've been preceded by something like a wall.
[12:35] Speaker 1: Because if all I'm doing is establishing contact with the
[12:37] Speaker 1: wider world, then I could just become the wider world.
[12:40] Speaker 1: I can lose my distinctiveness. Or if I'm a conservative
[12:44] Speaker 1: and I say, look, I'm all about walls, I'm all
[12:47] Speaker 1: about defining who we are as Catholics, well great, I'm
[12:50] Speaker 1: for that too. But then if that's all I have,
[12:54] Speaker 1: I'm just going to crouch defensively behind those high walls,
[12:59] Speaker 1: and I will not fulfill the mission of the Church,
[13:02] Speaker 1: which is finally to build a bridge from that beautiful
[13:06] Speaker 1: community to the wider world. Can I suggest everybody that's
[13:10] Speaker 1: the right theoretical or theological framework for reading this marvelous
[13:15] Speaker 1: story from Matthew fifteen. Both walls and bridges, both a
[13:21] Speaker 1: defined Israel and a missionary Israel. And that's the proper
[13:26] Speaker 1: nature of the Church. And God bless you.

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