1st Reading – Isaiah 56:1,6-7

Thus says the LORD:
Observe what is right, do what is just;
for my salvation is about to come,
my justice, about to be revealed.

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants —
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.

Our first reading is commonly understood as a postexilic text from Isaiah, addressing the period after the Babylonian Exile when God’s people were rebuilding both their nation and their religious identity.

Through the prophet, the Lord declares that his covenant and his house of prayer are open not only to Israel, but to all who faithfully seek him.

This vision of Gentile inclusion anticipates the challenge that emerges in today’s Gospel, where the faith of a Canaanite woman raises anew the question of how God’s people should respond to those outside Israel who seek the Lord.

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