Canaanite Woman

of some sort, and then the doctor does some tests,

and you discover through his work that you're

very ill, in fact. This gospel helps us, like

an x -ray, like a physician, because it's Christ,

examine our faith. how we've come to it, and

the state of it. And what's also interesting

is, you know, when you go to a concert, you have

your intermission, and then before the intermission

is over, the lights start to flash. It tells

you, get back in there. This is our intermission

warning. Not a warning. An intermission invitation

that Lent is coming. We hear this gospel about

this woman, this Canaanite woman, and last week's

about the man, the blind man at the gates of

Jericho, to prepare us for the coming of Lent

in just over a month. Next week, we begin Zacchaeus,

and after that. So we're starting to prepare

ourselves. The church wants us to examine our

humility. Oh, I'm so humble. We don't want to

examine it that way. Let the devil remind you

how humble you truly are. The church wants to

examine our prayer. How fervent is it? Is it

at all fervent? Is it regular? Is it heartfelt?

Do we love God? Do we have faith? Now, this gospel,

you heard it last year. Father James gave a marvelous

and very illuminating homily on the historical

setting, who this woman was, and it was really

marvelous. You can hear it on our parish website.

I highly recommend you do that. I'm not going

to talk about those aspects of it today. His

magnificent sermon you can access and hear. So

I'm going to focus on faith, on this woman's

faith. And something about how we come to faith.

I didn't come to faith as this woman did. I came

to faith because I inherited it. It was a gift.

I received it. I can speak about the marvelous

things God has done for me. But I'm not going

to do that today. But some of you have come to

faith through other means. Epic tragedy. Difficulty.

Hurdles. Let's talk about that. This clever,

and she was, this clever Canaanite woman answers

Christ, who seems to reject her. He answers her

in a wonderful way. You know what she said. We've

all had the experience of being ignored, left

out, made to feel that we weren't included or

recognized by others. But that's not what's going

on here. Over and over, there's going to be times

in our life, and maybe it's one of those that

brought you to faith in Jesus Christ. When God

speaks to us, the same way he's speaking on that

cross, Silent. Not a word. Everything he's done

for us already. What more can he say? We don't

always listen. And if we do listen, we don't

do what he says. Given through our gospel, sermons,

our spiritual father. Or if we do, we get tired.

and we easily give up. There's no success in

any realm in our life if that's the approach

we're going to take. I don't care what it is,

and that's true for faith. This woman, this Canaanite

woman, you remember what Father said last year.

She was a Canaanite. Her ancestors were those

that were to be displaced and removed for the

people of God. The Israelites. Because they not

only worshipped lots of gods, they practiced

child sacrifice. And sacrifice involves a meal.

Cannibalism. Sexual immorality. That's her background.

By this time in history, it was somewhat different.

But this woman, she listens. She models for us

that persistence that's needed, prayer and humility,

essential companions in times of difficulty,

real difficulty. We may assume, many of us, that

God's going to come into our life by means of

some pleasant experience that will require no

change. from us. No. If you want to come after

me, pick up your cross, deny yourself, and follow

me. That's an invitation. That requires change.

So that pleasant experience is not the way the

Christian life operates. Neither is it miserable.

God is going to more likely enter our life like

he did that woman. He came to where she was.

And she was having a crisis. Her daughter was

seriously ill with possession by a demon, she

said. And he was there. Coming in the eye of

the storm for this woman, in the midst of difficulty,

in the midst of confusion, in pain, and in suffering.

You can count on it. When that happens to you,

God will be there. Let me give you an example

of someone who did come to faith that way, not

just this woman. St. Gregory the Theologian,

whose memory we celebrate today, along with St.

Basil and St. John Chrysostom. St. Gregory wrote

an account of a time when he was young, about

21 years old. He was not yet baptized. He considered

himself a Christian, but he wasn't baptized.

He came from a wealthy family. He was well educated.

He was well connected. He was prideful. He decided

to go to Greece. from Alexandria. It happened

to be wintertime. Boarded a ship. Not a good

idea. For 20 days, he writes that that ship was

caught in a hurricane with colossal waves. This

is what he wrote. Everything became great blackness.

He's there on the ship with these other people.

It's tossing and turning. Deafening thunderclaps

resounded amidst flashes of lightning. The sails

of the ship were in shreds. The main mass was

bent. The rudder was useless, being torn forcibly

from the helmsman's hands. Mountainous seas swamped

the vessel. A confused clamor arose, cries of

sailors, officers, and passengers. Mountainous

seas were coming at us. We were without water.

Since the moment the ship began to roll, the

barrels containing the precious treasure were

smashed and scattered to the depths. The sea

continued to rage. We were harassed for many

days. The question was whether the sea or the

lack of water would make an end of us. Driven

this way and that way, we had no notion of where

we were sailing. We could see no hope of being

rescued by God. All of us feared a common death.

But more terrifying for me was the hidden death.

For those murderous waters were keeping me away.

He finally realized from the purifying waters

of baptism that he says, divinize us. St. Gregory's

life was changed not by some mystical experience,

not by going off to the desert to pray, He would

do that, not by any sublime meditation on the

nature of reality, but because he faced the prospect

of his own annihilation and had to see himself

as dead already, and what was left behind in

his life he saw as absolutely nothing. He had

accomplished zero. Out of that experience, He

said this, God is the source of affliction. Isn't

that striking? But he also calls God the gentle

healer. To put it plainly, brothers and sisters,

when trouble comes, our faith gets real. Faith,

like this woman in the gospel, did not consist

for her. in knowledge of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, the nature of the person

of Christ, the two natures of God and man, the

theotokos, the saints. No, these are all important

for us. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty.

We say that, and we should mean it. Faith for

her was about faithfulness, just doing it. Going

and praying. Praying to God. Till he answers.

Following after. And when he's silent, he's still

there. But he's waiting for us to mature. To

be able to receive the gift he has to give us.

Faithfulness, you can say, is faith. But it's

action. Coming to church. Confessing your sins.

forgiving your enemy, loving your enemy, not

just your neighbor, making the sign of the cross,

glorifying God and giving thanks to him. All

these are acts of faithfulness which lead to

greater faith, which leads to miracles. And I

can attest that that is true. In my affliction,

I cried unto the Lord, and he hearkened unto

me. says the great psalmist. It's a kind of a

birth pang. My soul longing to be united with

God. Let this woman's model call us to a deeper

faith and faithfulness. I have ignored the Lord.

Oh yes, I can casually greet Jesus. I can make

my regular confession. I can go to my communion

every week. I can pray. But that's not longing

for God. That's not a heart that feels so intensely

that it needs Christ because otherwise it's annihilation.

God is there for me, I discover. And not only

that, he's looking for me all the time. May the

fruit of our lips be praise and glory to our

Savior now and ever to ages of ages.