Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It’s a difficult Word to understand because it seems that Jesus is challenging this woman and even despising here. Yet, there is something that I really like about this gospel when it says that Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus leaves and it is not by chance; he comes out of himself and out of the Promised Land and goes into out of the land to find this woman. It is a meeting that is not by chance. At the same time the gospel says a Canaanite woman is coming out of that place. It is beautiful that one hand is coming out towards the other in order to meet. This is what I like the most about this gospel. Jesus goes out to look for them and he looks actively among these pagan peoples. He goes out to those who are considered sinners, like us.
Have you been in Sidon, or do you think you are like the Pharisees and the Scribes who were always in the temple? During this time how are you living the faith in relation to your husband or your wife or with your children? And how is it going with lust or with pride or laziness? How are you dealing with these seven husbands, which are the seven capitals sins. It could be that in a spiritual sense we are living in Tyre and Sidon and the Lord is coming out to look for us. He is looking out for us and he says how is your faith and is it like the faith of this woman?
Where does this faith come from? Faith comes from listening. This woman has gone out because she heard something about Jesus. She is not going out to buy bread and then met a man and tell him about her daughter, no way! She heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by and that Jesus heals, he cures people, and he helps them. She knows that no one else can help her, only Christ. Therefore, the faith of this woman starts from listening. Someone must have told her and all of this started because someone announced the love of God. Today we have the same possibility when this announcement is made. Christ is the only one who he has the power to save, to give you power to drive out the demons that you have inside of you; this is what saves you.
That Christ is coming for you is a wonderful news. The faith of this woman begins from listening and what does she do? She prostrates herself in front of the Lord and prays: Have pity on me, Lord, son of David. Lord, help me, help me. She insists on prayer which is also what helps us to grow in faith, brothers and sisters. The greatest act of faith is to cry out, to pray, that is why Jesus says to her: great is your faith.
Faith is an encounter with Jesus Christ. When one has met Jesus Christ you can say the day, the time and where you met him. You will never forget it. It is not like when you met your neighbor in the mall or the first time you met your boyfriend or girlfriend. With Christ, it’s not like that. Meeting Christ changes your life. You remember perfectly when you’ve met your love because Christ is love. When you meet Christ, you found one thing: that God loves you, has mercy on you, forgives you, has a love so deep that it is not a human love. It is a love that reaches your heart and changes your life. That’s why this woman is a woman of faith.
Faith is not to know many things, to know Scripture, faith is not to say all the prayers in the world, to work at all the Sunday masses or to watch many masses on the internet and search for everything the Pope says, etc. Faith is that all these things that I mentioned it they take you to meet this person of Christ. This woman has personal encounter with Jesus alone. This is what we need to speak to him and have a relationship with him. Don’t be afraid to call out to him when you feel lonely or afraid or have a problem. He knows our sufferings more than we do. To pray is to have faith in a God who always loves us. When Jesus says, O woman, great is your faith, it is like a kiss to her, and to you!