Homily for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. -Met. Korniliy (Titov)

Dear brothers and sisters! Great is the blessing of prayer that flows from a pure heart, united with gratitude to the Creator and Provider, who always grants us what is beneficial for our salvation, knowing all our needs and sorrows. Today’s Sunday Gospel tells us of the healing by our Lord Jesus Christ of the Canaanite woman’s daughter and teaches us that prayer, joined with strong faith and deep humility, can obtain from God great and abundant mercies. Yet our prayers are not always heard by the Lord, for sometimes we ask only for worldly blessings. From the history of the patristic Church, we know that even the saints were not always heard by God when they sought what was not beneficial for them. The holy Apostle Paul, who labored so greatly in preaching the Gospel of Christ, did not receive what he asked of the Lord when it was not profitable for him. The Apostle Paul writes: “Thrice I besought the Lord, and He said unto me: My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor. 12:8). The Lord does not hear our prayers when we pray yet continue to commit sinful deeds. The Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, when he prayed for the apostates and the wicked: “Pray not for this people, seest thou not what they do? They have not forsaken their wickedness, and thou prayest for them; I will not hear thee” (Jer. 7:16). The Lord does not hear our prayers when we ask Him to punish those who have wronged us. We ought to pray that the Lord not punish them for their deeds against us, as Christ Himself prayed for those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We, as Christians, must never abandon prayer and must glorify God according to the Apostle’s commandment: “Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). And the Apostle adds: “Pray without ceasing.” Some, avoiding the labor of prayer and church vigils, ask a priest or loved ones to pray for them while they themselves attend to their worldly affairs. But the Lord awaits from us our own fervent prayer from the heart, as today’s Gospel narrative teaches us. At one time, says the Evangelist Matthew, the Lord entered the land of a foreign and pagan people, the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a certain Canaanite woman approached Him, afflicted by great sorrow—her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit. This woman had heard that a wondrous Miracle-Worker had appeared in Judea, One who heals the sick and even raises the dead. She hastened at once to Him, placing all her hope in pleading and weeping for the healing of her afflicted daughter. With fervent faith, she cried out from afar to the Lord: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” The Jews at that time believed in the one true God and did not associate with pagans. Yet this pagan woman, having learned from the Jews about the coming Messiah, though unaware of the prophecies and psalms of David, confessed with her cry that before her stood the Savior—the Son of David, that is, she called Him the Son of God, born in the flesh from the “root of David,” from the salvific royal lineage. With her sensitive heart, she perceived that this Man had compassion for her sorrow. Her words “Son of David” were a confession of faith in Christ as the Son of God, her Savior. But the Lord did not answer her request and continued His way in silence, as if testing the strength of her faith, so that she might reveal it both to the unbelieving Jews and to draw pagans to faith through her example. The Savior’s silence did not deter her; rather, she persisted even more earnestly in seeking the Lord’s mercy. Following Him at a distance, she unceasingly cried out: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” Her persistent plea moved the disciples to appeal to the Savior on her behalf, saying: “Send her away, for she crieth after us.” “Send her away” did not mean “drive her away”; it meant, “Wilt Thou not have pity on her?” The sorrow of pagans is as grievous and painful as any human sorrow. To this intercession, the Savior responded, not in favor of the afflicted mother: “I am sent only unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The Lord did not despise the Israelites who had fallen away from their fathers’ piety and virtue, but for the sake of their forefathers who lived righteously, He desired their salvation. The Canaanite woman, hearing the Savior’s response, did not lose heart; she simply believed that He would have pity on her. She did not argue; no, supported by the apostles’ intercession, she hastened forward, fell at the Savior’s feet, blocking His path, and with even greater fervor cried out to Him: “Lord, help me.” And Christ tested her faith once more, which He, of course, knew, but it was necessary, perhaps, to show His disciples the depth of faith this woman was capable of. He said to her: “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to dogs.” These words are so stern, harsh, unmerciful, and sharp—how deeply they must have wounded the heart of a mother! It would seem that, hearing the Lord’s resolute refusal to help her, she would turn away from Him in offense. But she evidently beheld the countenance of Divine Love—His attentive, thoughtful, compassionate gaze. “The eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear Him, and upon them that hope in His mercy” (Ps. 33:18). And with humility, and as if with a smile, she said to the Savior: “Yea, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Greater humility and greater faith could not be demanded, and the Savior openly praised her faith: “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” And in that same hour, her daughter was healed. Here, as in other instances (recall the healing of the centurion’s servant), the Savior responded to faith with His love, His power to heal, and His mercy. Here we see that there is no limit or boundary to God’s compassion, that He does not divide people into His own and strangers. For Him, there are no strangers—all are His own. But the Lord expects and requires not superficial belief, but true, deep faith, a readiness to press toward Him with humility and supplication. This we must learn from the Canaanite woman. Thus, fervent prayer, united with boundless hope, can often avert the most grievous illnesses and sorrows, for in happiness and misfortune, the Lord does not forsake us, according to His lovingkindness and mercy. “The Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (Prov. 3:34), proclaimed Solomon in Proverbs. The Canaanite woman, hearing that she, a pagan, was likened to a dog, with humble acceptance of her unworthiness said: “Yea, Lord!” thereby acknowledging her own unworthiness of the Lord’s mercy. “Let us learn from this lesson,” says Saint Gregory Palamas, “how we ought to persevere in prayers. With great patience, humility, and contrition, let us turn to God, even if we are unworthy to receive what we ask in our prayers and are sent away empty-handed as those defiled by sins. Yet let us not abandon prayer but, on the contrary, steadfastly persist in humility, asking from the depths of our soul; and we shall receive from God what we seek, as the Canaanite woman received, who desired to obtain the crumbs falling from the Lord’s table of mercy. ‘God giveth grace unto the humble’ (Prov. 3:34); ‘Humble yourselves,’ says the Apostle, ‘and before the Lord ye shall find grace’ (James 4:6).” But such humility arises from great faith, for with faith in Christ, humility is always joined and grows, as with the Apostle Peter, who, when he caught a great multitude of fish at the Lord’s word, acknowledged his unworthiness of the miracle (Luke 5:8). The Lord heard the prayer of the pagan woman, honored her great faith, and said: “Be it unto thee even as thou wilt,” and in that very moment, her daughter was healed. In that same moment, this woman passed through the wall of separation from the Lord’s mercy. This wall was especially impassable in Old Testament times, when only the descendants of Abraham by the flesh were considered God’s children. But Christ called all nations into the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet today, those who come to the church’s threshold often encounter an impassable wall of misunderstanding, excessive demands, or outright hostility. We must, like Christ, help others overcome this invisible church barrier, so that those who seek the Lord may not remain outside, unwanted and despised by all, nor lose their souls, but enter the Church, which is the path to the Kingdom of God, for the holy crumbs there are more precious than the perishable treasures here. Let us reflect and examine ourselves—could we endure in humility and faith to the end as this woman did? If not, perhaps the Lord does not yet hear us, even though we stand within the church’s enclosure. We say to God, “Hear, O Lord!” but we ourselves often fail to hear our neighbor and their pleas to us, showing them no mercy. What is prayer without mercy? It is a voice without strength. Mercy itself prays for us, and God looks not at the frequent repetition of His name, “Lord! Lord!” but at a heart that is free of malice, compassionate, and merciful. God is mercy and righteousness; He loves mercy, shows mercy to those who practice mercy, and justly withholds mercy from those who refuse to show it. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us be humble and merciful, and then our prayers will be fulfilled, and the Lord will grant us, according to His most wise and all-beneficent providence, healing of soul and body and will establish us on the path to the Heavenly Kingdom! –Met. Korniliy (Titov) source