HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS
Jesus will never refuse His help to those
who seek him with faith, whether Jew or Gentile.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
In Scripture today we are reminded that
Jesus always shows his compassion and mercy in difficult moments, and prays for
us, like he did for the Gentile woman, and touches us, too, making us whole.
The sick people of Jesus' day were often
assumed to be on God's wrong side and as such, were often excluded from
society. Healing was rare. While medicine is now a science able to help many
people recover from illnesses, it is still true that a caring, human touch can
also have a healing effect. In Mark's Gospel, Jesus praises the Gentile woman
for her strong faith and for her affectionate love.
This woman bore the weight as she saw
her child's misery. Taking it as her own, she is willing to suffer rebuff in
order to obtain healing for her daughter. She stays the course with persistence
and her faith grows in contact with Jesus Christ. She begins with a request and
she ends on her knees with prayers of thanksgiving and praise to our living
God.
Jesus will never refuse His help to
those who seek him with faith, whether Jew or Gentile. In our Responsorial
Psalm, today, these words bring us great hope: "Remember us, O Lord, as
You favor Your people" (Ps 106:4a).
Band a knee and pray!