God is Always Drawing Near

Homily for Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings move us from distance to nearness, from outsider to beloved, and from desolation to dancing. Jeremiah speaks to the exiles who have been scattered and are feeling the ache of being forgotten. They yearn for God’s mercy and forgiveness. The Lord’s word breaks through that heaviness with a promise that is almost tender: “I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they shall be my people.” It is not simply a declaration of sovereignty; it is a declaration of relationship. God is choosing closeness again. Notice also that Jeremiah is once again repeating the words of the Sinai covenant without making it conditional.

The responsorial psalm (which also comes from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah) continues that same melody. The Lord gathers, guards, shepherds, restores. The images are gentle—grain, wine, gardens, young women dancing. It is the language of a God who delights in the people, who wants them to flourish, who bends toward them with mercy rather than judgment. For all who seek God in the quiet rhythms of daily life, this is a reminder that God’s fidelity is not abstract. It is lived, felt, and renewed each morning.

Then the Gospel brings us to the surprising scene in Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman—an outsider in every possible way—approaches Jesus with a plea that is both desperate and courageous. At first, the Lord’s silence feels unsettling, but she does not withdraw. She keeps pressing forward, not with entitlement, but with a faith that refuses to let go. Her persistence becomes a kind of prayer, a trust that God’s mercy is larger than any boundary.

And Jesus reveals that her faith has already opened the door. What seemed like distance becomes intimacy. What looked like exclusion becomes blessing. Her daughter is healed, and she herself becomes a witness to the wideness of God’s mercy.

Human beings like to create boundaries. God does not. God is ever drawing us closer. If we feel abandoned, that is of our own doing. God invites, includes, and embraces all who seek as we hear in the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer.  “For you came in mercy to the aid of all, so that those who seek might find you.” If you are feeling like an outsider, take the example of the Canaanite woman who persists in her determined request.

Jeremiah promises restoration. The response sings of joy. The Gospel shows faith breaking through every barrier. Together they remind us that God’s heart is always moving toward us, gathering, healing, and delighting in us.

May we allow ourselves to be gathered in that same mercy today. And may our faith, like the Canaanite woman’s, be steady enough to trust that even when God may seem silent but is already drawing near.