BEADS OF JOY 08-03-16
“Canaanite Woman’s Faith”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s
Gospel: Matt 15:21-28 (Canaanite Woman’s Faith)
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.”
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.”
Reflection:
At first this woman was put off
or so she must have felt that way by Jesus. Do you ever feel ignored by the
Lord? What is your immediate response? Do you get down on your knees and plead
your case like this Canaanite woman did? We have a merciful, loving, caring
Lord who only wants the best for us. All we need to do is open our arms and our
minds and our lives to Him; His are already open and waiting for us. This
Canaanite woman has shown us that even someone outside the faith, outside the
city, outside the circle of believers; there are those who truly believe and
love Jesus, all we have to do is reach out to them and love them and embrace
them into the circle with us.
This Canaanite woman expresses
true faith in turning to Jesus knowing He is the answer to her prayers. Look at
verse 25: “But she came and knelt before
him, saying, "Lord, help me." With full reverse and respect, she came
before Jesus with an expectant faith not questioning who He was or what He can
do, but rather knowing He was the answer to her prayers. Do we do the same when
we are in need and we are looking for our prayers to be answered? Jesus is the
one to always turn to, plead your case before Him and open your heart and love
Him and trust in Him. He knows our deepest thoughts, He knows the depths of our
faith and trust in Him.
Fully trusting in Him even in the
worst of times when all things look and seem bad is the best thing we can do.
God’s Will shall prevail. I know this first hand. We have walked down many dark
alleys not knowing the outcome. Some have not been good, but some have taught
us and some have shown us how trusting Him was the only way we were going to
make it through. Our life can be looked at as a bunch of “OMG’s” or “No WAY!!”
and we made it through… Yes, the road ahead still has some unknown turns coming
and some road blocks with no known ways around them yet. All we can do is trust
in Him and Jesus will see us through. He always does.
"Faith is to believe what
you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." ~St.
Augustine
“It is not the actual physical exertion that counts towards one's progress, nor the nature of the task, but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.” ~St. Francis Xavier
“It is not the actual physical exertion that counts towards one's progress, nor the nature of the task, but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.” ~St. Francis Xavier
"Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that
are not in hand." ~St. Thomas Aquinas
"I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind." ~St. Bernard
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” ~St. Thomas Aquinas
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” ~St. Augustine
"I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind." ~St. Bernard
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” ~St. Thomas Aquinas
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” ~St. Augustine
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
