Faith Moves The Heart Of God

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐊𝐠𝐬 𝟏𝟏:𝟒-𝟏𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟔:𝟑-𝟒, 𝟑𝟓-𝟑𝟕, 𝟒𝟎 “𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟕:𝟐𝟒-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟗) 

         There is probably no person on earth who doesn’t have faith. I am certain that even those who are weighed down by misfortunes still have some faith left in their hearts that things will get better. People have different levels of faith and so it is with the object of their faith.

         There are those whose faith lies in their own strength, in their own talent, knowledge built from their academic backgrounds, skills honed by years of experience, and in their abilities and in their own potential and propensity.

         These are faith that is mundane to say the least because such faith is based on something that is finite which means there is a limit to its benefits, value and efficacy. What difference would it make if you come to know that there is a kind of faith that a person can rely on something of value and benefits that is infinite.

         I am of course referring to having faith in the one true God who can make all things possible and the Sacred Scriptures tell us that our faith can access this infinite source of goodness through Jesus Christ whom God sent to save the world from eternal damnation.        

         However, would you still have faith in Jesus who calls another person a dog? Jesus of course is God incarnated and as such he has the right and authority to call anyone by any other name.

         But would Jesus really call another person a dog? Would this not surprise his disciples given the fact that Jesus was known to be gentle, kind and a respecter of persons? Why did he not want anyone to know that he landed in the region of Tyre and Sidon?

        These are a pair of questions that add to the mystery behind this beautiful gospel passage today and again we need to read between the lines and use our imagination when going through this verbal exchange or repartee as you may call it between Jesus and the woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit.

        In fact, if we try to get inside this conversation, you will note that it began with the woman begging Jesus “𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫” (𝐯.𝟐𝟔) towards the meat of the exchange which would reveal the humorous side of Jesus.

        But lest we be carried away by this wonderful banter between Jesus and the woman, let us first look back to the beginning of the passage that says that Jesus “𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰; 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭” (𝐯.𝟐𝟒).

        The only plausible explanation here was that the regions of Tyre and Sidon are cities within the territorial jurisdiction of Phoenicia which was a part of Syria that lay between Galilee and the open sea. In those days, Tyre and Sidon were both considered as trading centers as merchants on board seafaring ships and caravans by land normally pass through these two cities on their way to Damascus.

        As such these two cities are ruled by kings and the people pray to their own gods and the economy has its own currencies. This only meant one thing, that Jesus was in Gentile territory and he wanted to keep it secret as he was unsure of how he will be received which was probably the reason why he wanted to keep his presence secret.

        If you will recall, the passages that we read through these past few days spoke of what was clean and what was considered as unclean. To the orthodox Jew anything used or touched by non-Jews or Gentiles are deemed unclean including the person himself.

        And this was where the presence of Jesus in Gentile territory becomes symbolic because his presence has effectively bridged the gap between the Jews and Gentiles.

         It becomes symbolic because the message Jesus was sending was that the Kingdom of God is for all – both Jews and Gentiles alike. And this scenario must have been prompted by the rejection he suffered in the hands of the Jews and his going to Gentile territory has effectively opened an opportunity for the Gentiles to also share in the Kingdom of God.

         The Jews are so confident of their identity as the favored people of God that they refer to Gentiles as “dogs” and this came out during the ensuing exchange when the woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter and Jesus responded saying: “𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟕)

         Perhaps we could understand this better if we refer to 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟓:𝟐𝟒 where Jesus said: “𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥” which means that Jesus was not to defer to the wishes of Gentiles as his mission was to fulfill the prophecy given to Israel.

         What may have escaped the scrutiny of the gospel writers and us was the possibility that Jesus could also be testing the faith of the woman who was Greek and Greeks have this gift of banter and she delivered the clincher when she said: “𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐬.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟖)       

         And Jesus admired her faith and healed her daughter (𝐯𝐯.𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟎). In Matthew, Jesus was more expressive: "𝐎 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡!" (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟓:𝟐𝟖). This scenario was replete with meaning because the woman stood on behalf of the Gentile world and her encounter with Jesus had effectively opened the gates of heaven for us Gentiles.

         Such that through his passion, death and resurrection we Gentiles now have Christ with us as we have been reconciled as one body in Christ through the cross (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟐:𝟏𝟔) and by his death Jesus gave access to the Father by one Spirit (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟐:𝟏𝟕). His contact with the Gentile world represented by the woman who came to Jesus in faith has given us the right to “𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟖:𝟏𝟏)       

         If today you have been blessed by the presence of Christ in your life, we must thank that woman in Tyre who begged Jesus to heal her daughter and who humbly allowed herself to be likened to a dog but whose great faith moved Jesus to open the Kingdom of God to Gentiles.

         This shows that no one who will seek Jesus in faith – Jew or Gentile – will be refused. But as we are blessed, we need to put a value on these blessings by obeying the Word of God: “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐭.” (𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟖)

       What this passage today is telling us is that we need to have faith to be able to enter the Kingdom of God. “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.” (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟐:𝟖)        

        We should remember, however, that faith alone will not suffice. We need to do something with that faith that is in us. In other words, we need to accompany our faith with works just as Jesus and his Apostles did and this is where our twin tower of faith will come in – love of God and love of neighbor.

         In so doing, our life must consist of a beneficial balance of our reception of the Sacraments and performing corporal works of mercy and charity. There are times when we will struggle in the exercise of our faith. I also did. There was a time when I asked why I should love my enemy.

        But when I read what Jesus said in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟓:𝟒𝟒 “𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬” I realized this was not a recommendation for me to do so but a command. And if it was a command, who am I to disobey as I just an ordinary mortal whose life has been purchased for me at a great cost by the Son of God.

        The first opportunity came when I was able to forgive two of my former business partners who swindled me of my share in a business transaction. To move on in this life that is pockmarked with trials and challenges, we must learn how to live with these three important values – obedience, humility and forgiveness – the main ingredients to our becoming the salt of the earth and light of the world. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 12, 2026)