The Canaanite Woman’s Faith (Matthew 15:21-28)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In some translations of the gospel of today the protagonist of the story, the Canaanite Woman, is also called the Syro-Phonecian woman. As children of the Maronite Church, we are delighted to meet this woman. She is our mother in the faith; her Phoenician roots united to her Syriac heritage united to her faith in Christ makes her the porto-Maronite, the first Maronite in the Gospel. St. Matthew perfectly captures the essence of this woman’s faith.
What does St. Matthew tell us about this Syro-Phonecian woman, this proto-Maronite believer?
1) She will do anything for her children. This mother isn’t asking Our Lord for anything for herself but for her poor daughter who has been possessed by a demon. For a Maronite, there is no greater community than that of the family. If we have had a falling out with one or two members of our family, we must try to repair it as best we can. Our spiritual DNA is one that values family above everything; we must do everything we can to repair broken family ties. And she goes further: when it comes to transmitting the faith, this woman will do whatever it takes to help save her daughter. May we all do our part to help introduce our young people to the gospel of Christ and our Catholic faith.
2) She discerned the spiritual war going on. This wonderful woman didn’t run away from her problems but went to straight to Christ because she identified that the root of her problem was spiritual.
As Maronites, we can easily fall into the materialism of our contemporaries and think our difficulties can only be solved politically, or economically. We need to be more discerning and recognize the root of our present crisis is spiritual.
3) She had a holy determination. Her Phoenician roots gave her an energy and persistence that didn’t collapse in face of the apparent obstacle of God’s silence. With a ‘dogged determination’ she followed Christ and did not relent from asking for help. As Maronites, we must learn from this spiritual mother of ours to never cease praying even if our prayers are not immediately answered.
4) She cleverly turned her weakness to her advantage. Christ reminded her that she was not part of the ‘chosen people’ and therefore unable to access his miracles of mercy. But this clever woman turned her weakness to her advantage by using the currency that Christ could not refuse, humility. As Maronites lets imitate our spiritual mother by humbling ourselves often. Let us not let our pride have an easy time even for a single moment.
When you sit with this Gospel, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you with even more insights about this remarkable woman. In doing so, we will all become better followers of Christ, better Maronites.
† Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus