Persistent faith
All of us are reminded that God’s love for us is truly beautiful, enduring, and universal, and all of us are equally beloved of God.
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All of us are reminded that God’s love for us is truly beautiful, enduring, and universal, and all of us are equally beloved of God.
Today’s liturgy, the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, highlights persistent faith, humble prayer, and God’s inclusive grace that goes beyond borders to embrace all people.
The Gospel features the powerful story of the Canaanite woman who pleaded for her daughter.
The Canaanite woman was an outsider, yet she called out to Jesus with deep trust. She did not give up when silence or initial hurdles tested her. Her humility and great faith won the healing of her daughter. Jesus showed us that God’s mercy is for everyone, not just a select few.
All of us are reminded that God’s love for us is truly beautiful, enduring, and universal, and all of us are equally beloved of God, regardless of our background or origin, our race or beliefs, our cultures or customs, and regardless of any other parameters by which we tend to divide and separate ourselves in this world.
All of us are God’s precious ones, and He has always looked upon us with love and kindness ever since He created us from nothingness. That is why all of us are reminded of His love and kindness today, so that we do not take them for granted and do not forget all the great things that He has done for us all this while, as often, we do not realize and recognize what God has always blessed us with.
The Gospel shows us that even the so-called pagans are even more committed, faithful, and dedicated than the ones who call themselves God’s chosen people.
In that passage, we heard of the interactions between the Lord Jesus, His disciples, and a Canaanite woman who pleaded with the Lord to heal her daughter who had been tormented by a demon.
The same woman was similarly identified as a Syro-Phoenician woman, with a similar request and pleading for the Lord to help her troubled daughter. Despite the Lord clearly having pointed out that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the chosen people of God, the Israelites, the woman persisted in her pleading and trust in the Lord; despite the harsh words and replies that she had received, she still trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly and persisted in asking Him to heal her daughter.
Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord did not do this to the woman on purpose, as it was not His intention to humiliate her or make things difficult for her. And He did not despise or hate the woman either, as, on the contrary, what the Lord was doing was highlighting the unfortunate and terrible prejudices, biases, and other things that the descendants of the Israelites, the Jewish people, by the time of the Lord and His ministry, had against those whom they deemed as pagans and inferior to them.
At that time, those who did not belong or were not counted among the Jewish people were often looked down on by those who took pride in their inheritance and status.
