Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: «This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called “woman”, for out of “her man” this one has been taken». That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table.
Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
“Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet.”
Fr. Enric CASES i Martín (Barcelona, Spain)Today, we see the faith of a woman who did not belong to God's chosen people, but trusted Jesus could cure her daughter. That mother “was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter” (Mk 7:26). Pain and love bring her to insistently beg, ignoring scorn, delays or indignities. And she gets what she is asking for, as “When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mk 7:30).
Saint Augustine used to say that our prayers are not heard because we ask “aut mali, aut male, aut mala.” “Mali”, because we are evil, for that our personal dispositions are not good, or they are bad, and we should be asking for, in the first place, to become good; “male” because we pray badly, without faith, not persevering, not humbly; “mala” because we ask for bad things, that is, things which are not good for us, things which can harm us. In the last analysis, prayer is ineffective when it is not true prayer. Therefore, “Pray. In what human venture could you have greater guarantee of success?” (Saint Josemaria Escrivá). The Syrophoenician woman is a good mother; she was begging something good (“she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter”) and she begged rightly (“and came and fell at his feet”).
Our Lord wants us to use insistently the petition prayer or prayer of faith. There are, indeed, other kinds of prayers —worship, salvation, prayer of thanks—, but Jesus insists very much on our often using the petition prayer.
Why? There could be many reasons: because we need God's help to attain our greatest aim; because it expresses hope and love; because it is a clamor of faith. But there is also a motive that perhaps is sometimes ignored: God wants things to be a little as we like them. Thus, our petition —which is an act of freedom— along with God's omnipotent power, can contribute to make the world as God wishes and a little as we wish, too. The power of prayer is just wonderful!
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“Our prayer is not heard because we ask badly, without trust in God or lacking humility and perseverance.” (Saint Augustine)
“Jesus praises the Syro-Phoenician woman who asks with insistence for the healing of her daughter. Insistence, even though she is tired, but this is an attitude of prayer. Saint Teresa speaks of prayer as a negotiation with the Lord.” (Francis)
“Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will’ (Mk 1:24). Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt (Mt 21:22): ‘all things are possible to him who believes’ (Mk 9:23) (…)” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 2610)
