Even
if it seems to no avail. We do not
understand the mysteries of God’s providence, nor do we know the timing of if
or when He may choose to free us from the various forms of bondage we are
under: Yankees, globalists, etc., not to
mention our own passions (obesity, opioids, stubbornness, quickness to anger,
etc.). We are only told to continue in
prayer. To that end, Father James
Guirguis gave a good homily on perseverance in prayer that Southerners should
take note of:
The reading from the
Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (15:21-28)
Three. That is the
number of times that the Canaanite woman begged and pleaded with the Lord Jesus
for His help. She came to him begging and crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord,
Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.”
This woman came with
the noblest of intentions. She came with the right attitude. She came and asked
for the right thing from the only one who could possible offer to fulfill her
request. We are then left wondering why the Lord ignored, or seemed to ignore
the first two requests and only responded after the third?
Is the Lord a
cold-hearted individual? Is the Lord Jesus mean-spirited? At a glance, this
seems to be the case. The Lord all but calls her and her people dogs. He says
“It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Can we
imagine what the media would do if any public figure were to refer to anyone
else in such a way today? They would have a field day.
Yet the Lord Jesus,
the Son of God, often surprises us and this must be so! God is often unpredictable.
We do not understand His ways or His mind. The Apostle Paul wrote “For who can
know the mind of the Lord?” Rom 11:34 So we should not be confused by His
actions but we must humbly try to discern or understand what is happening here.
It seems clear that
the Lord is testing the woman. But the truth is that the Lord Jesus already
knew her heart. There was another reason for this back and forth exchange
according to St. John Chrysostom. He says “we might surmise that this is the
reason he put her off, in order that he might proclaim aloud this saying (O
woman, great is your faith) and that he might crown the woman: “Be it done for
you as you desire.” By this the Lord allowed those who were standing nearby to
learn the meaning of true faith in God and in His chosen one, and to learn it
from a gentile of all people. This should have put the Jews to shame. Shame
because they did not have that level of faith in Christ or the humility that
preceded it.
This scene teaches us
many things about our own relationships with the Lord Jesus. First and foremost
we learn that often we have to persevere in prayer patiently to receive the
things that we ask for. It’s not enough to pray for something once or twice.
Even when it seems that God is ignoring us, it is not the case. If it is
important we should continually pray for it. In the process of praying for it
patiently we will gain many blessings even if we do not receive the thing that
we had asked for. Prayer is not simply a list of things we want. It is a chance
to eat and drink and bathe in the grace of God through the Holy Spirit. In fact
there is nothing that is greater than the invisible gifts that God desires to
give us in prayer.
We thank God that we
don’t always receive what we ask for. Not everything that we ask for is in fact
good for us. In the Divine Liturgy we ask God to answer our prayers according
to His will and according to what is for our salvation. We will have a chance
to find sufficiency in Christ as St. Paul did when he prayed three times that the
thorn of the flesh would be removed from him and the Lord replied “My grace is
sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Maybe our prayers
will be answered in the way that we hope. Maybe our prayers will be denied.
Maybe our prayers will be answered in a way that we could never anticipate.
Either way, prayer is the prerequisite to a living encounter with Christ.
. . .
We
encourage everyone to read the whole thing and ponder how it relates to the
current situation of the Southland.
--
Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England,
South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð,
unworthy though we are!
Anathema to the Union!
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