The 17th Sunday after Pentecost Oct. 5, 2014 The Canaanite woman.... In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today is the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost and also the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Precious and life-giving cross. We also have before us the spectacle of the Canaanite woman. Indeed at that time, when she begged for and received the healing of her daughter, she was surely quite a spectacle. She was crying after our Lord, crying after his disciples, and trying to get his attention, because of her extreme need. We can learn many things from this woman. Of course, we can learn about humility, but there is something even more profound about this woman. Our Lord names it himself -- her faith. Out of her faith came her humility. Our Lord is going along the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. This was the land of the Gentiles. He was actually escaping from the Jews, who could not His testimony concerning Himself, recorded only in the Gospel of St. John. He called Himself the bread of life, and told that we must eat this bread in order to have salvation. The Jews (those who did not believe of course) could not stand that. They could not understand it, because they were carnal and temporal people. After His discourse, many who had been following Him left. There was a tumult concerning him, and much anger. At this time, and even before then, there was a conspiracy among some who wanted to kill our Lord. He died at the time he wanted to die, and escaped from the conspirators many times. He would go into hiding for periods of time, in order and teach his disciples privately, and also to make available to us important incidents for our benefit, such as when he met the woman at the well, St. Photini, or when this woman of Canaan shows such great faith. This woman comes and begs Him to heal her daughter, many many times. She says Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil... Notice that she says Have mercy on me. Our Lord does not rebuke her for this. The desires of our heart God will give, if we ask with a pure heart, and with a persistence that shows we believe. If we ask for mercy upon ourselves, arent we also asking for mercy for those we love and care about? When we pray for mercy, we certainly will be thinking of our family, our brothers and sisters, and those we love, because their well being is certainly the desire of our hea God will grant our desires, and we do not have to be so precise - Lord have mercy on George because of this problem, or John because of that problem-- all we need do is ask God for mercy, and in a simple way make our need known, to the One who already knows. When the blessed woman finally got his attention, she said what her problem was: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.. And he did not say anything. He ignored her, and the indication from the text is that this went on for quite some time. She was imprecating him over and over as he walked on the road, ignoring her. Even the Apostles were asking Him to send her away. The Fathers think that the Apostles had tried to be her advocate, but at length they had tired of her. This woman has no friends in the world. She is completely alone, and she is crying out to the only one she thinks can help her, and He is not listening. But she keeps trying. she comes and worships Him: Lord help me. He answers her in a way that seems to our pampered egos to be very harsh. It is not meet to take the childrens bread, and cast it to dogs. The children are the Jews, the bread is Him, and the dog -- is her. He called her a dog! In that time, to be called a dog was considered one of the greatest insults. This woman does not recoil from this insult. And our Lord knew this, and that he reaction would show her great faith and humility, born of faith. Or shall I say, the application of her faith. If you believe something and do not act upon it, it is completely useless to you. This woman answers wondrously: Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table. What a spectacle we have here, of incredible humility! However, take note, brothers and sisters, this humility is founded on knowledge, and he acting upon this knowledge. She was bold. She went to our Lord, and thrust herself in front of him, and she begged mercy of him, because She knew WHO HE WAS. She also knew who she was. When He said she was a dog, she accepted that, because she knew it was true. But she also knew that He was the Lord, and that he could heal her daughter, and indeed would heal her daughter. That is why she spent so much time pursuing Him, and surmounted so many obstacles that would stop those of less faith. The Lord said to her: Woman, great is thy faith, and then he healed her daughter. How can there be such a miracle? The key is to know Christ. If we know Christ, then He will teach us all things. How in the world can we do this? This woman of Canaan, a pagan woman, a gentile, and outcast, she shows us the real truth of the matter. She, who not had Christ revealed to her in writing, or speech, knew Him. She was humble and bold in her humility. Again, I say, in the Christian life, the two are the same. In secular life, they are not at all the same, but in the Christian life, some one who is humble is bold before God, because he knows Who God IS, and he knows who he is, and he lives in a constant effort to be more like God in holiness and knowledge. Thats what we should try to obtain -- this knowledge, and then we will obtain the things we wish from God. God help us to be humble and to be bold before Christ. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:31:53 +0000
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