Great is your faith

In today’s Gospel, Mt. 15: 21-28, the Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, a non-Jew, approaches Jesus, asking that He free her daughter from a malicious demon that torments her.  Jesus seems to ignore her.  The disciples get exasperated by the woman’s persistence: Send her away, she keeps begging on and on. Her whining is intolerable, so it seems to be their position. Jesus is not welcoming, so it seems. He even refers to her as “a dog.”  I’m here for the Israelites. You’re not a Jew. Go away, He seems to be saying to her.  She does not give up hope and finally Jesus gives in and heals her troubled daughter.

Jesus’ withholding of a positive response seems cruel. Or is He holding out in order to call forth the depth of her faith and strengthen her resolve?  Sometimes, when my prayers do not seem to be heard, when I am going through rough times, I may feel as though Jesus is ignoring me. When I come up against others’ taunts or when others say, by word or action, as the disciples said to Jesus “shut her up”, I could disappear and sulk. The Canaanite woman did not do that. She knew what she wanted. She knew that Jesus was the answer. She did not give up hope or stop trying to make her dreams a reality. She was willing to work for the results she envisioned.

I have much to learn from her.  Is my focus strong? Is my faith unshakable? Am I that sure of what I am pursuing that I am willing to go to whatever length is necessary for as long as it takes, not giving up, but being even more sure that what I am hoping for is possible, as long as I do not lose hope, as long as I am willing to work for it, as long as I go to the right source, ignore the outer noise, the objections, the ridicule, willing to stand alone in what I know is possible, as did the Canaanite woman?