23 January 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.” Matthew 15:28
Paul writes to the Philippians from prison with one wish: “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”, so that he may hear that they are “standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents.” He even calls suffering a gift: “he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well”. In this Unity Octave his words are a plan for all Christians: not rivals, but companions side by side for the one Gospel.
The Gospel shows a faith that will not give up. A Canaanite woman, a foreigner, cries: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus does not answer; the disciples want her sent away; Jesus says he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. She kneels: “Lord, help me.” Even the hard saying about the children's food does not stop her: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Jesus replies: “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Denha celebrates Christ revealed to the nations; here a pagan mother teaches the disciples what faith looks like: humble, persistent, and sure that a crumb from Christ is enough.
Theme: “Woman, great is your faith!”
Worthy of the gospel, side by side, and a faith that does not give up.
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1
“making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3
Apply: Pray this week with or for Christians of another Church.
“these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah 56:7
“But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”” Matthew 15:25
Apply: Bring one intention to Jesus every day this week.
“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18
“Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.” Matthew 15:28
Apply: Do not stop praying when God seems silent.
Christians are called to strive side by side for the one Gospel.
Humble, persistent faith is praised by Christ.
Take-home resolution: Pray “Lord, help me” every day this week for one intention.
Dear friends, Paul writes from prison to the Philippians: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27). In this Unity Octave, that is God's word to all Christians.
He even says that suffering for Christ is a privilege, a gift of grace (Philippians 1:29). Christians who suffer together for the Gospel discover how much unites them.
In the Gospel a Canaanite woman cries: have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David. Jesus does not answer. The disciples want her sent away. She kneels and says only: Lord, help me (Matthew 15:25). And when Jesus speaks of the children's food, she answers: yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.
Jesus says: woman, great is your faith! (Matthew 15:28). She is a foreigner, yet she shows the disciples what faith is: humble, persistent, sure that a crumb from Christ is enough. When God seems silent, let us not give up. Let us say with her: Lord, help me. Amen.
Children, a mother kept asking Jesus to help her sick daughter, even when it seemed he said no. Jesus said: great is your faith! Let us never stop praying. Say with her today: Lord, help me!
Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. Give us the faith of the Canaanite woman, humble and persistent, and help us to live in a manner worthy of your Gospel, standing firm in one spirit with all who believe in you. Amen.
Both readings are about standing firm when it costs something. Paul asks the Philippians to hold together under pressure and calls their suffering a gift. In the district of Tyre and Sidon a Gentile mother will not go away, even when she meets silence and a hard saying. Faith here is not a feeling but a refusal to let go.
Setting.
Philippi was a Roman colony (Acts 16:12), and its people were proud of their Roman citizenship. Paul founded the Church there and was flogged and jailed in that city (Acts 16:19–24). He now writes from prison again (1:13); whether in Rome or elsewhere, scholars still discuss. He has just said that he hopes to return. Whatever happens to him, he says, one thing matters for them.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,” (1:27)
Soldiers and athletes stand this way. A Church that quarrels within cannot withstand pressure from without.
“he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well” (1:29)
Paul does not call suffering good in itself. To suffer for Christ is to share his life, and so even this can be received as a gift.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council calls martyrdom an exceptional gift and the supreme test of love, and it says that all must be prepared to confess Christ before others even along the way of the cross (Lumen Gentium 42). In the second century St Polycarp wrote his own letter to this same Church and remembered Paul’s teaching among them. We pray today for those who suffer for their faith in many lands, and for those who wrong them.
Setting.
Jesus has just argued about clean and unclean with Pharisees and scribes (15:1–20). Now he goes to the district of Tyre and Sidon, Gentile land on the Phoenician coast. Mark calls the woman a Syrophoenician (Mark 7:26). Matthew uses the old biblical word “Canaanite”, which recalls the people of the land from Israel’s earliest story.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“But he did not answer her at all.” (15:23)
Prayer sometimes meets silence. She does not take silence for a final answer.
“But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”” (15:25)
The shortest prayer of the passage. The verb is the one used of the Magi, who also came from the Gentiles to worship him (2:11).
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (15:27)
She does not dispute the order of God’s plan. She accepts it and finds room inside it. Her wit is the wit of faith: there is so much bread at this table that the crumbs are enough.
“Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” (15:28)
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism names the Canaanite woman among those whose prayer of faith Jesus heard (CCC 2616). The Church has seen in her a sign of what Denha proclaims: the salvation first offered to Israel reaches the nations (CCC 543). St John Chrysostom, preaching on this passage, admired how the woman’s perseverance won what the disciples’ request could not (Homilies on Matthew 52, in substance).
Was Jesus insulting the woman?
The words are hard, and it is better not to explain them away. Jesus is stating the order of his mission to Israel (15:24; compare 10:5–6). Many commentators think he draws out her faith, and the end of the story supports this: few in Matthew are praised as she is.