Our readings today carry a couple of themes for us that intertwine for one message. Isaiah was clear that God is the God of all people. Our Gospel shows Jesus reaching out beyond the chosen people to include the Canaanite woman. We also see something about prayer. In Isaiah we hear God wants a House of Prayer for all people. And in the Gospel we see the interactions between Jesus and the Canaanite woman tell us something about how we should present our prayers and actually ourselves before God.
The take away message is that God loves all people. That his salvation is for all of us. That his love has no limits or boundaries. It is not confined to a people or class. And God wants a relationship with us and he wants our prayers. Prayers from the Canaanite woman who prayed with humility and faith was praised by Jesus.
But I think sometimes we can struggle with humility and faith.
- Maybe it’s because we sometimes forget about his love for us.
- Maybe we have become distant from God…we have moved from the initial embrace of love and thanksgiving to keeping him at an arm’s length. Busy with other things.
- Maybe we have arranged God in our lives as something or someone who looks more like a distant family member or mere acquaintance we don’t talk to too much.
And we can wonder why we hear silence. And we can wonder if we are loved at all.
Like the Canaanite woman who when she first came to Jesus and asked for something very worthy of prayer..the demon oppressing her daughter to be removed…Jesus was silent.
It was only later when his disciples came, and she returned that Jesus saw her great faith and humility and he granted her prayer.
Maybe there is something here for us to learn about prayers and silence from God.
Certainly we can be asking for the wrong thing. But I think most of us know what is worthy of praying for. Most of us are like the woman and pray for our family or others who need help. We pray for good things.
And we might question when he is silent. But maybe when God is silent, he is working toward our salvation by allowing us to grow in humility and reach a greater faith.
Humility isn’t very popular these days. Some think humility is humiliating. It isn’t of course. Humility is about understanding how we fit in the world and our relationship with God.
We are created by a God who loves us very much. His love is great.
Out of love for us, Jesus came to bring us salvation. To each of us.
Sometimes the best thing for us is to pray more…spend more time in prayer and being with God. Prayer can increase our faith. Faith leads to salvation….which is greater than anything we might ask for here on earth.
I know it’s not easy. We may question why one is healed and another suffers. Those of us who have faced cancer and illness and loss have had to face that question. But we kept praying knowing our God loves us deeply. He has a plan for us … all of us.
My grandson Vincent has the same birthday month as I do. We acknowledge that every year. He is almost exactly 50 years younger than me.
“We look at each other in amazement on our birthday. Me wondering how I could ever have been that young and he wondering how someone can be so old.”
I often compare his view of life to my own. It’s not surprising.
Life seems endless, limitless at 19. So many things to choose from and decide about.
Things look different of course for me. Fewer decisions to make. When I recently bought a pair of boots that the manufacturer claimed will last ten or more years, I recognized that they are probably my last work boots. I don’t buy cars very often, so I know my truck is probably my last work truck. It’s odd but comforting for me…..But it gives me a different perspective.
Looking back, my perspective on prayer is different too now….Like many of you, Helen and I have gone through many challenges over the years. We didn’t always get all the answers we asked for, results we prayed for. But we learned that if we keep praying, God always guides us and takes care of us. He always stayed beside us.
Most things I prayed for earlier in life are just not that important in the big picture. I can’t see with God’s mind, but I know that he wants us to be with him more than anything we can possibly pray for here on earth.
During our short time here, prayer is how we speak to God.
Jesus prayed to the Father often. He gave us a model of our prayer in the Our Father and an example of when to pray by praying all the time ..in thanksgiving and suffering.
There are many ways to pray. The saints all had unique thoughts on what prayer is.
“True prayer,” wrote St. Augustine, “is nothing but love.”
“Prayer,” said St. John Vianney, “is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.”
St. Therese of Lisieux said, ”For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
I think I can relate best to St Francis de Sales who said
“Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy—then we need an hour.” How true is that. For when I am busiest it is when I seem to forget humility and that all I have and can do is from God.
We are called into relationship with God by prayer. Praying is for our benefit as it helps us grow in faith and humility. We stay close to God when we pray and that is a good place to be amid life’s challenges.
At times, he may give an answer to prayers, miracles due happen, other times he may give us what we really need. But there will be times when he is silent.
Remember when we pray and we hear silence, God is still loving us, and silence may be what we need. He is always with us. God wants only good things for us while we are here on earth.
But most importantly, he wants our salvation. ⴕ
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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