Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Strong Humble Persistent


The WORD today reminds me that I should have strong faith in God, while remaining humble and persistent. 

Not a lot of people can accept rejection. Some, or probably a lot, stop after being rejected. That is why I admire the persistence of people in the sales industry. They are very used to rejections. But they keep on offering things anyway. They keep on selling. Because they know eventually someone would be interested and will buy something from them. This is similar to the woman in the gospel. 

In the gospel, we see a woman we should imitate. The Canaanite woman showed great humility, persistence, and strong faith. This is one of the few times Jesus actually “tests” a person. Usually, Jesus grants the people’s requests – for healing from sickness and disease, from freedom from evil spirits, even from death. However, today’s gospel shows us a different side of Jesus. His approach initially seems tough. “ it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” – meaning Jews first, the chosen people. Sila muna ang tutulungan ko, tsaka na kayo. Jesus even compared her (being a Caananite makes her a non Jew, a gentile) to a dog. Grabe diba, request denied na nga, tapos kinumpara pa sa aso. 

Did she stop there?

Of course not! It’s inspiring how great the woman’s faith, persistence and humility are. She was humble to come to him for her daughter’s healingand was humble enough to accept and not be offended by Jesus words. Even though she did not get a warm treatment, she did not back down.  Then we see her faith, na kahit parang nireject na sya ni Jesus, she still believedWe also see her persistence. She did not just leave, when the disciples sent her away, and when Jesus seemed to ignore her. She humbly insisted on her request. on her faith. Sabi nya “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Kung baga, sabi nya, OK lang Lord na kung tingin mo aso kami, pero may faith parin ako na kahit konti, kahit tira tira nalang ng para sa Jews, ay makakapag pagaling sa anak ko. And when Jesus told her that her daughter is free from the demon, she did not say “Lord, sumama ka naman sakin para sure” or “Lord, are you sure?” She just went home

Hindi lahat ng bagay nakukuha sa isang dasal. Minsan kailangang magpakumbaba pa, magdasal pa, at mangulit pa. 

God is good. He is our Father. He is all powerful and all loving. His ways may not necessarily be our ways. He may not respond to us the way we want to. However, one thing is for sure - he loves us. And not only that, he has great plans for us. So we should just trust in Him, especially when it is difficult to. Especially when it does not seem to make sense. He knows what he is doing. We just need to have faith.

We have been in a pandemic for more than a year. And we have been praying to God. For safety. For vaccines. For our leaders to do what is best for our country and the people. But sometimes, we may feel God is deaf. We may feel he is not answering us, or giving us the exact opposite like how Jesus responded to the woman. However, we need to have more faith. We need to be humble and pray more. We should not lose faith, but show God that no matter what the situation, we will have faith in him. And that while we are waiting for better days, we will do what we can in our own little way. 

How is my faith in God? How do we react When God seem to say “no” to our requests, even if we feel that our request is for our good, or for other people’s good, what do we tell him? Do we get mad, insisting that what we are asking is a good thing, or do we humbly accept his will but keeping the faith? Do we respectfully ask in faith, or are we proud, demanding that God grant our requests because we feel we are entitled to it?

May we always remember to have complete faith in God, yet humble enough to know and accept that His will is perfect, even if it does not seem to coincide with our will and our ways. 

Father God,
Thank you for today. thank you for another day to live. Thank you for the inspiring reminder. Lord, I thank you for reminding me how important faith, humility and persistence are. Thank you for inspiring and challenging me, Lord. I am sorry for the times I act like a spoiled child – wanting things done my way, wanting prayers to be answered my way and in my time. Lord, I pray that you help me have a heart like the woman. May my faith be firm, even when you’re not answering me the way I want to. May I be persistent in praying even when I don’t seem to get what I want. And may I always be humble to submit to your perfect will, not mine, especially when my will is different from yours. I have faith that you will help us het through this pandemic. Amen

Blessed Day!

In Christ,
-g-


Daily Readings

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest

Lectionary: 409

The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,]
“Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,
which I am giving the children of Israel.
You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,
all of them princes.”

After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,
met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel
in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,
made a report to them all,
and showed the fruit of the country
to the whole congregation.
They told Moses:  “We went into the land to which you sent us.
It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.
However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,
and the towns are fortified and very strong.
Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.
Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,
and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.”

Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
“We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.”
But the men who had gone up with him said,
“We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.”
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
“The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
(the Anakim were a race of giants);
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”

At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
“How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?
I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,
I will do to you just what I have heard you say.
Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.
Forty days you spent in scouting the land;
forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:
one year for each day.
Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.
I, the LORD, have sworn to do this
to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me: 

here in the desert they shall die to the last man.”

Responsorial Psalm

R.    (4a)  Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
    we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
    considered not your wonders.
R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But soon they forgot his works;
    they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
    and tempted God in the wilderness.
R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
    who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
    terrible things at the Red Sea.
R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
    but Moses, his chosen one, 
Withstood him in the breach
    to turn back his destructive wrath.
R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that hour



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