Cannanite Woman 2013 - Fr. Michael Margitich

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Spirit. I want to take you back for a moment

to the day of the crucifixion of our Lord. Two

criminals. One of them. Angrily shouted at Christ.

And said if you are really Christ. If you are

really the Messiah. Then save yourself. And save

us. The other criminal. In a pleading voice.

Said Lord. Remember me. When you come into your

kingdom. And Jesus said to him, this day you

will be with me in my kingdom. Two condemned

criminals hanging on a cross, slowly dying in

an excruciatingly painful way. Both of them had

something to say. To Jesus. One. In a fit of

blasphemy. Asked. Why? If you. Are the one who.

You claim to be. Then why. Are we suffering?

And the second criminal. whom the church calls

the wise thief, admitting his sins and his failure

in life, cries out with this prayer of hope,

Lord, Lord, remember me in your kingdom. Now

it's important To notice that Jesus. Did not

respond to the question why. But he did reply.

To one. Who said. Lord remember me in your kingdom.

If there is any meaning to be learned from today's

gospel. The prayer of the wise thief seeking

mercy is compared to that woman in coming before

the Lord. And I've heard this often. Do we tend

to question God's providence and love or do we

submit to God's will? I'm convinced that to spend

time questioning God is listening to one's own

voice. To spend time in offering prayer in humility

leads one to a better understanding of what is

happening. The Bible from the beginning to the

end teaches that God Is not some far off distant

impersonal force. Like the philosophers tell

us. The ground of all being. Whatever that means.

Intellectualism will never satisfy the soul.

Because God is a God of mercy and love above

all. A God whom Jesus teaches us to say, our

Father. And in our worship services, again and

again and again, we hear the phrase, our help

is in the Lord. And as a father pities his children,

so the Lord pities those. Who fear him. And here

the word fear. Should be translated awe. We stand

and kneel before him in awe. There are those

who never. Pray except. When they are in difficulties

and their problems and their sorrow and there's

grief. Some time ago I asked a young college

student if he prayed every night. No, he said,

I don't pray every night. Why not, I said. Well,

because there are some nights when I don't want

anything from God. My dear people, prayer is

not an attempt to get what we want from God.

Because God is not an errand boy. We pray, and

this is the very meaning of today's gospel. We

pray not to persuade God to change his mind,

but rather to give us the grace to change ourselves.

In the Lord's prayer, we say, thy will be done,

not my will. As often as I would like that to

be sometimes. I confess that. God, not my will,

but thy will be done in my life. Today's gospel

reading from Matthew, the 15th chapter, as it's

also found in Mark. is a very interesting story

because it tells of a woman who was deeply troubled

with the burden of a sick child. And the Bible,

the New Testament, makes it clear that she was

of non -Jewish nature or ethnic background. And

she approached Jesus. And ask him for help. And

I want to read this because it's so powerful.

Lord, she said, my daughter is grievously vexed

with the devil. And what did Jesus do? And Jesus

answered her not a word. Most uncharacteristic.

Most unusual. Because Jesus always gave a response.

But in this instance, no response was given.

But she remained intent. On her and in her wish

for Jesus to help her daughter. And what did

the disciples do? I quote, send her away. They

were annoying Jesus. So the disciples, lacking

all compassion, said, stay her away. She's bothering

us. And it's important to remember that why Jesus

went into tired Sidon. Because he knew that his

days were numbered. And he wanted to be with

his disciples. To teach them. Because the days

were numbered for him. Again she asked. But she

was not discouraged. Because the driving motive

of her heart was love. And there is nothing more

powerful, stronger, more meaningful to us and

to God and nearer to God than love. She never

asked, why don't you help me? But she pleaded,

Lord. And he answered her finally in this way.

Listen, I can't help you because I am sent only

to the lost sheep of a house of Israel. And then

what does she do instead of being discouraged?

She came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help

me. And Jesus, to that answer, Jesus said, I

can't take the bread from the... and cast it

to the doggies. The dog here in Greek is a house

pet. And what did she respond? And how did she

respond? She says, yes, Lord, I know that. But

yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall

from the master's table. Jesus said to her what

he said to the centurion on two occasions. Jesus

said to her as he said to the centurion, great,

great is your faith. There was simply an outpouring

of love. And this Power of love drove her. To

say Lord have mercy. And in the light of. This

expression of trust and faith. And surrender

to Jesus. Again I want to say to you. What the

Lord said to her. Woman. Great is your faith.

And let it be done to you. And we are told at

that moment her daughter was healed. I want to

ask you to reread this miracle. Because there's

so much more involved than I could possibly tell

you. But as you read, note a couple things. When

she approached Jesus, she called him the son

of David, which was a political title with him.

But she never ended that way. She did say, Lord.

Jesus. Second thing. She approached Jesus from

a distance. Because the disciples wouldn't let

her come any closer. But it ended in this way.

She ends up on her knees before the Lord. With

a humble plea. Jesus. Have mercy. For this woman

prayer. Was no presumptuous questioning. No empty

ritual. Not some kind of Aladdin's lamp. Her

prayer. Was a confession. Lord, I cannot always

understand life. Life sometimes can be brutal.

And I can never understand this idea why I am

suffering. But Lord, I know that you have the

power. You have the mercy. And you have the love

to do. Not my will, but your will. This woman's

recognition was this. That she implicitly realized

that Jesus was a healer. Prayer is never based

on the question of why. But it is based on the

intimacy of faith, of love, humility, and awe.

You know, some time ago, I quoted to you a prayer

that was found under... The dead soldier. He

was a young man. And it's obvious. During his

life. He kind of. Let God. Or put God. In the

shelf. And when he needed him. He'd pull out

the shelf. Now listen what he wrote, and it's

very meaningful to me. Dear God, I have never

spoken to you, but now I want to come closer

to you. You see, God, some people told me you

didn't exist, and like a fool, I believed all

this. But last night from my foxhole, I saw beyond

the sky. I realized at that very moment, that

very moment, they told me a lie. Had I prayerfully

taken time to see the things you made, I would

have known they weren't calling a spade a spade.

Please, Lord, please, take my hand, and I know

you'll understand. Sorry I had to come to this

hellish place before I had time to see your face.

The signal, the signal has come. God, I must

go. But I have faith that I want you to know.

This night might be a horrible fight. Who knows?

I may come to your house tonight. Though my faith

in you was weak before. Dear Lord, Receive me

at your door. I cry with faith, repentance, and

tears. I wish, oh how I wish I had known you

these many years. Well, I have to go now, God.

Goodbye. Since I met you, I am not afraid to

die. Glory be to Jesus Christ.