Mt. 15: 21-28
“Lord knows everything even before we ask,” then do we need to persevere in our prayer life? The spiritual experience of Mrs. Lisa Cotter inspires each of us to examine our own prayer life. Soon after their marriage, Mrs. Lisa and her husband Mr. Kevin had a daughter and a son. All the same, the couples were passionate to expand their family by welcoming more children to their family. Sadly, young couples could not fulfill their desire due to unknown medical reasons. Mrs. Lisa underwent a spiritual struggle; she had to deal with thoughts like many unwanted babies undergo the crime of abortion and denied their right to live. Here, they are ever ready to welcome the fruits of their love, the children that God is intending to give them but why then it is not happening? Is it not God’s will? Did God hear all our prayers? If so, is He telling us that he would grant certain prayers and not all because his will is different from ours… slowly she sank into the sea of despair.
Later on, she approached her spiritual director and she was advised to pray even the smallest desires of her heart with hope at the same time be ready for any answer. “I want another child Lord! Bless us again.” slowly her heart was filled with peace and got an inner strength to accept God’s will – “whatever be his answer.” Finally, they decided to meet the specialist doctor to stop all their treatment and decide to accept the fact that they cannot have any more biological children. Nevertheless, before the appointment, she wanted to make sure a hundred percent positive result that she was not pregnant. She underwent the test and received the result, as usual thinking that the result will be negative… after all, it was positive; she was pregnant…
Perseverance is a great virtue. It makes the impossible possible. Anyone who achieved great success in life such as business sports, academics, politics, etc would have a story of perseverance to share. A person with the attitude of perseverance is well focused and no obstacles can distract the person from achieving his/her end. These people will never give up or discouraged in their endeavours until they achieve their desired goal.
Today’s gospel presents to us a great story of perseverance. The Canaanite woman seeks Jesus’ helping hand to liberate her daughter from demoniac possession. She acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah: “Have pity on me Lord, Son of David.” It is quite surprising that Jesus does not respond to her greetings at the first instant. Then the disciples intercede on behalf of her. Again Jesus clarifies with them that he is sent to the lost sheep of Israel and it is not good to give the bread of the children to the dogs. It sounds partial and hurting; anyhow, she is not ready to give up. She says that even the little dogs have the right to consume the leftover from the table. Witnessing her boundless faith Jesus heals her daughter at the same instant.
We may wonder why did Jesus use such indifferent words to her? Why did Jesus equate the Canaanite people to little dogs and Jews as children of God? The evangelist presents this event happening all of a sudden during his journey towards Tyre and Sidon. Therefore the question is: Was it unknown to Jesus that this woman would come and plead healing for her daughter? No, Jesus knew about it because Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity in his infinite wisdom knew everything. The daily routine of Jesus was such we before and after his ministry, he spent time with His Father entrusting his ministry to him as well as thanking Him for all the graces he bestowed on him to accomplish his mission. Therefore, it was not an accident for Jesus to meet this Canaanite woman.
The words of Jesus appear a little harsh nevertheless, he wanted to tell them that though Jewish people are the chosen children of God at the same time Jesus wanted to teach them that God loves not only Jews but all despite their backgrounds. When Jesus says that it is not good to give the bread of the children to little dogs, the Canaanite woman accepts the salvation plan of Yahweh that Jews are the chose children of God and through them, the entire human race will be blessed. Moreover, the little dogs are not strangers in the Semitic context; they were treated as one of the family members, they were not kept outside rather they have the freedom to sit close to the master and receive his affection. The humility and faith of this Canaanite woman impress Jesus and appreciate her faith and grants her heartfelt desire of liberating her daughter from the evil of bondage.
Jesus wanted to communicate his disciples and other Jewish people who accompanied him that it is faith in him that merits a person and not the ethnic identity of the person. Though she felt discouraged she was not ready to give up. She knew that Jesus is the Messiah and everything is possible for him. Her faith demanded merit and miracle. As we continue our faith journey let us seek the Lord sincerely and persevere in our faith journey.