This weekend we hear the beautiful words of the Prophet Isaiah, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Our Hebrew scriptures often speak of God’s special relationship with the people of Israel, but Isaiah makes it clear that God’s love extends to all people. God’s love is for everyone, not just for a select few. That is good news indeed.
On the surface, it may sound as if Jesus casts aside the Canaanite woman, rejecting her pleas for help. However, Jesus commended her faith, extending healing to the woman’s daughter. The woman was a pagan and did not follow the religious customs or laws of the Jewish people, yet he said, “O woman, great is your faith!”
What is faith? Obviously, it isn’t theology, and it doesn’t seem to be moral perfection either as Jesus simply ignored those issues. We heard nothing of her character, of her religious practices, or morality when Jesus proclaimed: “O woman, great is your faith!” Faith seems to come from a deep awareness of need, of need for wholeness; of the ability to admit to our own powerlessness, and to trust Jesus as the source of that wholeness.
At Mass, shortly before receiving the Eucharist, we pray the beautiful prayer that echoes the plea from the Canaanite woman, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.” That prayer is a recognition of our need for wholeness, of our need for healing, and of our own imperfection. As Church, we unite with other imperfect believers to seek God’s healing, to be made whole in God’s love.
St. Teresa of Avila she encouraged us to speak with God from the heart, like the Canaanite woman, to have a conversation with God. She wrote, “Remain in the Lord's presence continually, and speak to him, pray to him in your necessities, and complain to him about your troubles; be merry with him in your joys... All this you can do without set prayers, but with words that fit your desires and needs." When we open our hearts and souls to God’s love, we recognize our need for God’s love in our lives and when we experience that love and grow in wholeness, we share that love with others.
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forevermore.