Lord, Help Me

 

^{Note:  Remember to look for yesterday's post on the Assumption below this one.}

²¹ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶ He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

 Today we hear the story of the Canaanite Woman and her possessed daughter. (Mt 15: 21-28).  Her persistence in spite of Jesus's silence and later gruff and dismissive words pays off and Jesus, moved by her faith and insistence (will not take no for an answer) dismisses the demon.  So often we pray with only a particle of the faith and persistence of this unnamed but immortalized woman and are disappointed because we do not receive an answer. Consistent prayer from the heart (no matter if we receive an immediate answer or not) is the key to deepening our faith to comply to "whatever God wants".  (Not my will be done, but yours.cf. :Lk 22:42). Our main goal is to be in tune with God's plan for us; it may not be to our liking at first, but later we see that his wisdom truly overshadows ours.  "Lord, teach me to pray." May we learn a lesson from this Canaanite woman.

Bro. Rene