Wednesday of the 18th
Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of the
Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major
August 5, 2015 8:30am
The Canaanite woman in today’s
gospel gives us a good lesson in prayer.
I would say that she exhibits the
core of what we call the prayer of petition:
desire, dependence, and
determination.
First, prayer begins with desire,
with a longing in our heart.
This woman is single-minded and desires
healing for her daughter.
Out of this unselfish desire
comes her prayer of petition to Jesus.
The she shows her dependence upon
God or Jesus.
She recognizes who she is and who
Jesus is.
She is a Canaanite, a non-Jew,
probably considered a pagan.
And, of course, she is a woman in
a society where women were treated very much as second class, as having no
rights.
And so, she is vulnerable and has
no claim on Jesus and his time and power.
She is totally dependent on Jesus,
but she expresses what we can call his dual identity –
the particular Savior of Israel
which she expresses when she calls him “Son
of David,” and a person who is sent from the Father to everyone which she
expresses with the title “Lord.”
And then, besides desire and
dependence, this woman shows determination.
She is not put off by the
disciples trying to get rid of her or by Jesus’ initial lack of response.
She persists in recognizing who
he is and calling out to him to “have
pity on me” and “help me.”
And the result is that Jesus’
compassion and mercy flow.
So, in her desire for one thing,
the Canaanite woman recognizes her dependence on Jesus and the healing he could
bring.
And then with her determination,
she is a great model of faith-filled prayer of petition.
