There is a simple principle that tells us that if we cannot look after those who are closest to us, why would we be concerned about people who are far from us? Yes, we do need to have a concern for all people, but let us be practical about things and concentrate first on the people who are close to us — the things we can do something about rather than those that are far from us and much more difficult to do anything about.
Jesus eventually responds to the request for healing from a foreigner because of her insistence and her faith. It seems somewhat extraordinary that a non-Jew has more faith than the Jews. She uses an interesting analogy in her argument but it gets Jesus’ attention because it is very convincing. We should think about it once in a while because the same could be true of our situations.
How deep is our own faith? How well do we respond to the graces God has given us to work with in our lives? Faith is not just about adherence to creeds and so on. It is all about how we live our lives — how faith affects the choices we make, and thus, provide a living witness of faith to the world. Preaching the Gospel is important, but living it is more important. This is where the focus of our lives must be — ensuring we give an evangelistic, true and uncompromised witness to the gift of salvation that God gave us. The Church, or the community of faith, exists for this purpose. We come together to support one another, but this support always goes beyond our individual selves to a shared witness to the Gospel.
Jesus recognized something of this level of faith in the Syrophoenician woman’s faith and responded accordingly. How stronger the witness of our faith would be if we had faith as deep as hers? This is something not only worth reflecting on, but acting on as well. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you willing to surrender you life to the will of the Lord? What holds you back from giving a deeper and more powerful witness of faith?
Jesus, You offer me the gift of faith every day. Help me to open my heart to a deeper trust and belief in You, in what You have done, and in what You will do in and through me.
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