Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
How easy it is to go about believing that in our lives we will be hurt, we will be betrayed, we will be abandoned, we will be left helpless. After all, examples of this in the lives of others and indeed, in our own lives surely abound. And we live life with a guarded and calculating heart that, often unbeknownst to us, seeks its own survival in this cruel world.
Different is the heart that believes in healing and reconciliation, that believes it will not be left abandoned and helpless. This heart is not naive, nor is it untouched by pain and suffering. It is a heart very much aware, in touch with its bruises. It is a heart that has faith, that chooses to believe in the fullness of life and connection that it was made to experience. This is the heart of the Canaanite woman in today's gospel, a mother's heart driven by love, that does not cease to believe in what will sooner or later, one way or another come through and manifest itself in our lives.
"O woman, great is your faith!" Surely Jesus recognized elements of his own faithful heart in the heart of this woman. May we aspire to have a heart that believes in love and in times of need, run to the aid of Christ's faithful heart.