Here is the text of the reflection I shared with those who gathered in prayer this weekend: a few thoughts inspired by a woman from southern Lebanon who once had the chance to speak with Jesus.
I had lunch the other day with the family of one of the people who I hope will be joining our upcoming pilgrimage to England and Ireland. Before our encounter, I had never met them, and they had never met me, so this was an opportunity for each of us to tell a bit of our stories. While we sat at that table, I learned about the father of the family who is Coptic Catholic: originally from Egypt; about the mother of the family who is Melkite Catholic: originally from Lebanon. I heard stories of their respective families’ struggles as they faced many obstacles to faith, and eventually came to Canada, a place where they say it is easier to raise their children and to practice their faith … although no situation is perfect.
I thought of this family as I read the gospel that we have heard today. Jesus went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. This is a place located just north of Israel, in southern Lebanon, perhaps not far from the place where the mother of that family used to call home. Two thousand years ago and more, Jesus visited that place, encountered a woman from that region and heard her plea: Have mercy on me Lord. His disciples were surprised that he was even paying attention to such pleas, perhaps because they were thinking as human beings think. At the time, since Jesus and his disciples would have been in foreign territory, far away from the places they called home and the people they knew, it would have been expected that they would not speak with strangers. We see evidence of this human way of thinking in Jesus words: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet it was the woman’s persistence in prayer that convinced him that she had faith in him, and because of this faith, he responds: Let it be done for you as you wish.
Today, two millennia later, voices continue to be raised in prayer. From the cities of Tyre and Sidon, across the lands of Lebanon and Israel, throughout the lands of Jordan, Syria and Iraq where such devastating news continues to be told, people are crying out in prayer: Have mercy on me Lord. They are in great need of our prayers, and of the gift of hope that God will bring them to his holy mountain, and make them joyful in his house of prayer.
The joy that is given in God’s house is evident on the faces of those who have come to know it, even though they have to struggle every day to live their faith. I wonder if we are aware of what a blessing it is that we can practice our faith here in this land without having to hide. Sometimes such blessings can be taken for granted until we meet a woman like the one who Jesus met in the gospel today: there are many such men and women in our world and they have a story to tell: a story of challenge, a story of struggle, a story of conviction, a story of the joy of having experienced the mercy of Jesus. This was the story that Saint Paul told to the Christians in Rome; it is the story that is told by every witness who speaks of the power of faith in his or her life, even today.
All of us can tell such stories. The details of the struggle might be different, but they are always there. In this land, we must bear witness to God’s merciful presence for the sake of our children, for the sake of the marginalized and for the sake of our elderly. Together with them, we continue to pray: Have mercy on me Lord. Bring us to your holy mountain and make us joyful in your house of prayer.
Persistance in prayer
I had lunch the other day with the family of one of the people who I hope will be joining our upcoming pilgrimage to England and Ireland. Before our encounter, I had never met them, and they had never met me, so this was an opportunity for each of us to tell a bit of our stories. While we sat at that table, I learned about the father of the family who is Coptic Catholic: originally from Egypt; about the mother of the family who is Melkite Catholic: originally from Lebanon. I heard stories of their respective families’ struggles as they faced many obstacles to faith, and eventually came to Canada, a place where they say it is easier to raise their children and to practice their faith … although no situation is perfect.
I thought of this family as I read the gospel that we have heard today. Jesus went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. This is a place located just north of Israel, in southern Lebanon, perhaps not far from the place where the mother of that family used to call home. Two thousand years ago and more, Jesus visited that place, encountered a woman from that region and heard her plea: Have mercy on me Lord. His disciples were surprised that he was even paying attention to such pleas, perhaps because they were thinking as human beings think. At the time, since Jesus and his disciples would have been in foreign territory, far away from the places they called home and the people they knew, it would have been expected that they would not speak with strangers. We see evidence of this human way of thinking in Jesus words: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet it was the woman’s persistence in prayer that convinced him that she had faith in him, and because of this faith, he responds: Let it be done for you as you wish.
Today, two millennia later, voices continue to be raised in prayer. From the cities of Tyre and Sidon, across the lands of Lebanon and Israel, throughout the lands of Jordan, Syria and Iraq where such devastating news continues to be told, people are crying out in prayer: Have mercy on me Lord. They are in great need of our prayers, and of the gift of hope that God will bring them to his holy mountain, and make them joyful in his house of prayer.
The joy that is given in God’s house is evident on the faces of those who have come to know it, even though they have to struggle every day to live their faith. I wonder if we are aware of what a blessing it is that we can practice our faith here in this land without having to hide. Sometimes such blessings can be taken for granted until we meet a woman like the one who Jesus met in the gospel today: there are many such men and women in our world and they have a story to tell: a story of challenge, a story of struggle, a story of conviction, a story of the joy of having experienced the mercy of Jesus. This was the story that Saint Paul told to the Christians in Rome; it is the story that is told by every witness who speaks of the power of faith in his or her life, even today.
All of us can tell such stories. The details of the struggle might be different, but they are always there. In this land, we must bear witness to God’s merciful presence for the sake of our children, for the sake of the marginalized and for the sake of our elderly. Together with them, we continue to pray: Have mercy on me Lord. Bring us to your holy mountain and make us joyful in your house of prayer.
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