Faith That Refuses to Walk Away

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today’s Gospel is one of those passages that can make us uncomfortable. Jesus leaves the familiar territory of Israel and goes toward Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region. A Canaanite woman comes running after Him because her daughter is suffering terribly. She cries out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!” And then something strange happens: Jesus is silent. The disciples want her sent away. When Jesus finally speaks, His words seem almost like another rejection – His mission is first to the lost sheep of Israel. Yet the woman does not leave. She comes closer, kneels before Him, and says perhaps the simplest prayer in the Gospel: “Lord, help me.” What looks at first like rejection becomes the setting in which her extraordinary faith is revealed.

We often imagine faith as believing when everything makes sense. But this woman teaches us something deeper: sometimes faith means staying when God does not make sense. She receives silence, yet she stays. She encounters an obstacle, yet she stays. Even when the conversation becomes difficult, she stays. And notice what she does not do. She does not demand that Jesus explain Himself. She does not pretend she deserves something from Him. She simply trusts His goodness so deeply that even a crumb from His table would be enough. Eventually Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith!” Her persistence does not change Jesus from unwilling to compassionate; rather, the encounter draws out and reveals a faith that crosses boundaries and recognizes in Jesus the mercy she desperately needs.

So there are three things we can take from this woman. First: keep praying even when God “seems” silent. Silence is not necessarily absence. Some of the deepest moments of faith happen when we pray and hear nothing back. Second: bring Jesus the real wound. She does not approach Him with posh religious language; she brings the pain of her daughter and eventually says only, “Lord, help me.” Sometimes that is the most honest prayer we have. We do not always need better words; we need a heart willing to come before Christ as it is. Third: refuse to make disappointment the measure of God’s goodness. The woman could have interpreted every obstacle as proof that Jesus did not care. Instead, she trusted His goodness more than she trusted her immediate experience.

Maybe that is the challenging question for us today: What do I do when Jesus does not respond the way I expected? It is easy to follow Christ when prayers are answered quickly, doors open, and life seems blessed. But what happens when the door remains closed? When the illness continues? When the family situation does not change? When we have prayed for years and heaven seems quiet? Perhaps mature faith is not saying, “God, I will trust You when You give me what I ask.” Perhaps it is saying, “Lord, even here, I will not walk away.” The Canaanite woman came asking for a miracle, but before the miracle happened, something beautiful had already been revealed: she wanted Jesus more than she wanted an easy answer.

And in the end, Jesus does not merely grant her request. He praises her: “Great is your faith.” Maybe greatness in the Kingdom of God looks surprisingly simple: a person on their knees, carrying a wound, refusing to leave Jesus. When you cannot understand Him, stay. When prayer feels dry, stay. When life hurts, stay. Because sometimes the prayer that changes us most is only three words long: “Lord, help me.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, when You seem silent, give me the faith to remain. When I do not understand Your ways, keep me from walking away. Teach me to bring You my wounds honestly, to trust Your goodness in disappointment, and to pray with perseverance. Lord, I believe You are still present, even when I cannot see what You are doing. Give me a faith that stays. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko