A cry that gets salvation
Roman Rite
XX Sunday of Ordinary Time – August 20, 2017
Is 56, 1.6-7; Ps 67; Rm 11.13-15.29-32; Mt 15: 21-28
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1) The cry of faith to invoke a gift not to claim it.
Last Sunday, we meditated on the filial prayer of Christ who expresses his need to be with the Father, and Peter’s prayer who, to be with Christ, cries out to him “Lord, save me.” Today Gospel makes us hear the cry of a pagan woman who pleadingly and confidently turns to the Messiah saying, “Have mercy of me, Lord, son of David!” This woman begs Christ to release her daughter from devil. She humbly begs the Lord to do a miracle, but does not require divine intervention as a right. She expects it as a gift. She asks the One who is a gift recognizing in him the Lord and Messiah. Her faith is all enclosed in the expression: “Have mercy of me, Lord, Son of David.”
Once again the liturgy makes us contemplate the “Gospel of Grace” that responds to the desire for salvation, and for this reason, we pray: “Infuse in us the sweetness of your love so that loving you in everything and above all, we get the promised things that exceed every desire “(Opening prayer of today’s Mass).
Praying in this way, we put ourselves in the boundless horizon of God’s love, a love that attracts us to Him to be filled with joy.
The episode reported by the today Gospel is embodied and understood in the logic of the tender and infinite love of God. Saint Matthew tells us about a meeting that takes place “in a foreign land” with a pagan woman, who is a mother oppressed by anguish (“My daughter is tormented by a demon”). This mother gets what she was asking for. Today’s evangelical tale tells us the story of a pain open to faith and of a faith which becomes miracle and liberation.
The Canaanite woman turns to Jesus, sure to be satisfied. Her faith is insistent, brave, humble, and stronger than the apparent refusal. Faith must be both certain and patient. It must not be discouraged even by the silence of God “He did not even say a word”. The silence of Jesus may seem disconcerting, so much that it arouses the intervention of the disciples, but it is not about insensitivity to the pain of the woman.
Saint Augustine rightly comments “Christ seemed indifferent not because he want to refuse mercy to her, but to inflame her desire “(Sermo 77, 1: PL 38, 483). The apparent distance taken by Jesus, who says, “I was not sent except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel “(Mt 15, 24) does not discourage the Canaanite, who insists “Lord, help me!”(Mt 15:25). And even when she receives an answer that seems to close any hope -“It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15, 26) -, she does not desist. She doesn’t want to take anything from anyone: in its simplicity and humility little is enough, crumbles are enough, just one glance and a good word from the Son of God is enough. And Jesus is admired by the answer of such a great faith and says to her, “Let be done for you as you wish” (Mt 15:28). And from that moment her daughter is healed.
2) A persistent question to the one who loves us.
The healing of a young woman is not the only miracle narrated in the today Gospel. During the dialogue between Christ and the Canaanite woman, who begged a grace, it happened another miracle, greater than her daughter’s healing. This mother has become a “believer,” one of the first pagan believers.
If the Messiah had listened to her at the first request, all that this woman would have obtained is the healing of her daughter. Life would have gone through with less annoyances but everything would have ended there, and mother and daughter would have died in anonymity. Instead, they will be spoken about until the end of the world. Perhaps, Jesus took the inspiration from this meeting to propose the widow’s parable about the “Need to pray always, without getting tired”.
In the insistence of the Canaanite woman transpires the confidence in the power of Jesus. He was trying to hide, but the fame accompanying him prevented a single moment of solitude. He was there for her (and today he is here for us) and she knew it. Her presence in a territory that was not Jewish, “in the area of Tire and Sidon”, could not be casual. She had guessed the favorable time for her daughter’s salvation. This certainty moves her and pushes her to Jesus. The certainty of a faith full of hope throws her at Christ’s feet, who says “Woman, great is your faith! Let be done as you wish “(Mt 15:28). Yes, this woman has a great faith. “Not knowing the ancient prophets, nor the recent miracles of the Lord, nor his commandments or his promises, indeed, rejected by him, she persists in her request and does not get tired of knocking at the door of the one who, by fame, had been named Savior. So her prayer is granted in a visible and immediate way”(Saint Bede the Venerable, Homely on the Gospels I, 22: PL 94, 102-105).
The insistent prayer of this woman does not arise solely from the need to obtain her daughter’s healing. It is born from a faith that is not the result of a theory or a need, but of an encounter with Christ, the Son of the “living God who calls and reveals his love” (Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei, 4) with a gesture of mercy.
In addition, the episode on which we are meditating makes us understand that when we pray the Lord we must not expect an immediate fulfillment of what we ask for, but rather rely on Christ’s heart trying to interpret the events of our life in the perspective of his design of love, often mysterious in our eyes. Therefore, in our prayer praise and thanks should merge together, even when it seems to us that God does not respond to our concrete expectations. The abandonment to the love of God, who precedes us and always accompanies us, is one of the fundamental attitudes of our dialogue with Him.
A clear example of this attitude is offered by the consecrated virgins, who are called to live in particular the “service of prayer,” as it is said during the Rite of Consecration when the Book of the Hours is given to them.
Moreover, with the full donation of self to Christ, these women testify how to ask and how to pray. Before the gift (= grace) is granted, they adhere to Jesus, who in his gifts gives himself. The Giver is more valuable than the gift; He is the ” invaluable Treasury”, the” precious Pearl “; the gift of the miracle is granted “in addition” (cf. Mt 6, 21 and 6:33).
These consecrated ones testify a very important thing: before the gift is granted, it is necessary to adhere to the One who gives: the giver is most valuable of the gift. Therefore, even for us, beyond what God gives us when we ask, the greatest gift he can give is his friendship, his presence, and his love. He is the precious treasure to ask for and guard all time.
Let us not forget the deep bond between the love for God and love for the neighbor that must also enter in our prayer. Our prayer opens the door to God, who teaches us to go out of our way to be able to become closer to the others, especially in moments of trial, to bring them consolation, hope and light. May Jesus the Lord allow us to be able to have a persevering and intense prayer to strengthen our personal relationship with God the Father, widen our hearts to the needs of those who are next, and feel the beauty of being “sons in the Son” together with so many brothers and sisters.