From a homily by St. John Chrysostom:
The Canaanite woman whose daughter was
tormented by a devil came to Christ begging his help. Most urgently she cried
out: Lord, have pity on me. My daughter is grievously tormented by a devil. Notice
that the woman was a foreigner, a gentile, a person from outside the Jewish
community. What was she then but a dog, unworthy to obtain her request? It
is not fair, said the Lord, to take the children’s bread and give it to the
dogs. Nevertheless, by perseverance she became worthy; for Christ not only
admitted her to the same noble rank as the children, dog though she was, but he
also sent her away with high praise, saying: Woman, you have great faith.
Let it be as you desire. Now when Christ says: You have great faith,
you need seek no further proof of the woman’s greatness of soul. You see that
an unworthy woman became worthy by perseverance.
Jesus exorcising the Canaanite Woman's daughter, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 15th c. |
Now would you like proof that we shall gain
more by praying ourselves than by asking others to pray for us? The woman cried
out and the disciples went to Christ and said: Give her what she wants – she
is shouting after us. And he said to them: I was sent only to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. But when the woman herself, still crying out,
came to him and said: That is true, sir, and yet the dogs eat what falls
from their master’s table, then he granted her request, saying: Let it
be as you desire.
Have you understood? When the disciples entreated him the Lord put them off, but when the woman herself cried out begging for this favour he granted it. And at the beginning when she first made her request, he did not answer, but after she had come to him once, twice, and a third time, he gave her what she desired. By this he was teaching us that he had withheld the gift not to drive her away, but to make that woman’s patience an example for all of us.
Have you understood? When the disciples entreated him the Lord put them off, but when the woman herself cried out begging for this favour he granted it. And at the beginning when she first made her request, he did not answer, but after she had come to him once, twice, and a third time, he gave her what she desired. By this he was teaching us that he had withheld the gift not to drive her away, but to make that woman’s patience an example for all of us.
Now that we have learned these lessons, let
us not despair even if we are guilty of sin and unworthy of any favour. We know
that we can make ourselves worthy by perseverance.
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