Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The woman of Canaan in today’s Gospel is found as well in that of St. Mark who identifies her as “a Greek,” that is, as one who is of a barbarian people, an uncouth people. She is “a Syro-Phoenician by birth,” St. Mark tells us (Mk. 7:24-30). She is clearly of a people who are not the sons and daughters of the Patriarch Abraham. In fact, her ancestors long before had been driven out of Canaan Land by another Jesus, a Joshua of the Old Testament, Moses’ protégé, under whose leadership ancient Israel had forcibly displaced the Canaanites who were a notorious people, so that Israel might inherit the land promised to them by God.
She is, like the Samaritan of the parable, a despised person or, at least, of a despised people. She is a Gentile – a dog – to whom our Lord clearly makes known that He has not been sent to. “’I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’” He says. Her salvation, her enlightenment, for all intents and purposes, are not on the radar screen of His earthly ministry. At least, not yet, anyway. “’[S]alvation is of the Jews,’” our Lord told the Samaritan woman by the well of Jacob during their high noon conversation (Jn. 4:22). Salvation is for the Jews first (Ac. 3:26; 13:46; Rm. 1:16), to the lost sheep of Israel’s house.
And yet, there is something about this woman, something of which she is made that resonates with our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ Who has come to save sinners (1 Tm. 1:15-17). She stands in stark contrast to God’s first-called people of faith who, in the Gospels, are forever clashing with our Lord because of their unbelief. She knows this Jesus as the “’Son of David,’” a peculiarly Jewish term signifying the Messiah of Israel and His royal lineage, and she calls Him “’Lord.’” She clearly sees what Jesus’ own people do not or cannot or will not see! Indeed, even St. Peter is placed in juxtaposition to this woman back in chapter 14 when, having walked upon the water at the command of Jesus, he suddenly begins to sink beneath its waves, compelling this Apostle to cry out likewise for mercy, “’Lord, save me!’” to which Jesus answers, “’O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?’” (Mt. 14:22-36). How very different is this Gentile barbarian, this woman of a pagan people, whom our Lord commends at the end as a woman – a daughter of Eve – as a soul having great faith.
So often in Sacred Scripture, those who should have faith don’t get it when God is present and actively working. So often, they – we – are put to shame by those outside, much to our shame and chagrin. It is this woman’s faith – faith directed to Jesus because faith has to be aimed at something besides a blank and empty target. It is not just faith, but faith in the Son of the God of Israel Who, for this woman, is not her God, that is, until today. Today, salvation comes to both her and her devil-beleaguered daughter through the God of Israel Whose mercy endures forever (Ps. 99 [100]:5; 117 [118]:1-29; 135 136]:1-26). Today, despite our Lord being sent first to the lost of Israel, salvation has come to her and to her house because she has been made a daughter of Abraham by faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “’For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost’” (Lk. 19:1-10).
“’O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’” Faith, beloved, is persistent, clearly demonstrated here by this woman’s faithful banter with Jesus Who seemingly was as disinterested in her plea as she was interested in His help! And yet, she wasn’t deterred by our Lord’s silence or seeming lack of empathy on His part. So often that’s how we perceive God, isn’t it? As being far off, distant, unconnected, uncaring, and disinterested in our prayers for mercy.
What we’re seeing here, however, in this exchange is prayer at work, prayer in action, the prayer of faith that is persistent in the face of perceived impediments like God’s silence. Her faith isn’t stymied because the answers aren’t forthcoming quickly nor as she may want. In fact, faith, beloved, doesn’t demand nor need all the answers. It is not dependent upon those answers. Why? Because in Whom faith is anchored – the God of all Mystery – “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, . . . Who alone is wise . . . .” (1 Tm. 1:15-17). And yet, who among us truly understands this God and His ways or knows His mind? He and His ways are so often mysterious and a Mystery to us on this side of eternity, aren’t they? “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ saith the Lord. ‘For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Is. 55:8-9). Leading St. Paul to exclaim before the very Mystery of God, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Rm. 11:33-36).
On this side of eternity, we can only see so far, know so much. Faith doesn’t pick up where knowledge and sight end. Faith is faith regardless of knowledge or sight. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cr. 5:7). That’s what Sacred Scripture says. We cannot see why God seemingly responds to one soul “immediately” while not doing the same for another. Why is that? Faith doesn’t know the answer, but it does know the God Who is “’the Way, the Truth, and the Life’” (Jn. 14:6); it prays to the God Who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hb. 13:8). And yet, for both of those souls, the outcome is the same: the grace of God being poured out upon them and upon those for whom they pray. This is the mercy of God. The answer to the prayer, “’Lord, save me! Lord, help me! Son of David, have mercy!’”
St. John Chrysostom, in his 17 Letters to St. Olympia, gives us some insight here. St. Olympia was a deaconess who was chronically prone to despair and despondency with whom the Archbishop corresponded during his long and torturous journey into exile. He himself was in poor health and would, at the end of his journey into exile, find death. He writes, nevertheless, out of his own sufferings in order to encourage the suffering soul of his beloved deaconess. In Letter 10, he compares saints for whom faith seemed easy to those for whom faith wasn’t easy. Both have virtues, he says, but those virtues gained through suffering were greater than those who suffered little or not at all. Why? Because they had to exercise the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love – those virtues directly related to God – to a far greater degree, thereby gaining for themselves a far greater reward.
Enter, now, our Canaanite sister in the Faith. We note her sufferings for her daughter, besieged by the powers and darkness of Hell, for whom she is helpless, save the help of God in Christ Jesus. On behalf of her daughter, she comes to implore the mercy of God. She does so with “dogged” (pun intended) endurance and persistence such as a mother would know. She is like unto another woman preserved in a parable in St. Luke’s Gospel who also was undeterred by the denial of her prayers by an unjust judge. Finally, however, doggedly, her persistent and indomitable prayers and faithful endurance bore fruit. Thus, we are counseled by the Evangelist “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” because our God will speedily come to the aid of “’His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them’” (Lk. 18:1-8). Speed, in this case, however, is from the viewpoint of God’s eternity and not from our own finite and restricted time-bound existence. Nonetheless, we are assured, that if we pray yearning for the will of God, the God Who is of exceeding compassion and the Lover of mankind – unlike the unjust judge in Jesus’ parable – will answer the prayers of those who steadfastly seek His face and persevere (Jn. 14: 1 Jn. 5:14-14). “’Ask, and it will be given to you,’” says our Lord and Lover of mankind, “’seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.’” Jesus goes on to assure us of the uttermost infinite love of the Father for us. “’If you then, being evil,’” He says, “’know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!’” (Mt. 7:7-11; Lk. 11:9-13). For He is a merciful God and loves mankind! This, beloved, is the Mystery of God.
Although this woman and her daughter much-in-need are not of Israel’s household, her prayers, nonetheless, are, in fact, answered according to God’s time and mercy. The Son of David, sent by the Father to recover, reclaim, and restore the lost and wandering sheep of His own choosing, has compassion and mercy upon this outsider, granting her – and us – a deeper glimpse of God’s fullest intentions (Ac. 10:34-35), that is, that Jesus Christ has indeed come into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. This is the pattern, St. Paul says, of our good God Who loves mankind and His longsuffering toward us all, especially to those “who are going to believe on Him for Everlasting Life” (1 Tm. 1:15-17). It is not because she is cutesy with our Lord in her replies to Him or that she is an annoying whiner – such things are not persuasive to the Almighty. But, it is her utmost humble spirit and deference she renders to our Lord that wins her the favor of the Master, “’O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’” It is her humility and insatiable desire for the love of God and His mercy which energizes her faith and endears her to her God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So, beloved, we always ought to pray in faith and humility and not lose heart (Lk. 18:1).
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Tm. 1:15-17).
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
PROPERS:
1 Tm. 1:15-17
Mt. 15:21-28