of some sort, and then the doctor does some tests,
and you discover through his work that you're
very ill, in fact. This gospel helps us, like
an x -ray, like a physician, because it's Christ,
examine our faith. how we've come to it, and
the state of it. And what's also interesting
is, you know, when you go to a concert, you have
your intermission, and then before the intermission
is over, the lights start to flash. It tells
you, get back in there. This is our intermission
warning. Not a warning. An intermission invitation
that Lent is coming. We hear this gospel about
this woman, this Canaanite woman, and last week's
about the man, the blind man at the gates of
Jericho, to prepare us for the coming of Lent
in just over a month. Next week, we begin Zacchaeus,
and after that. So we're starting to prepare
ourselves. The church wants us to examine our
humility. Oh, I'm so humble. We don't want to
examine it that way. Let the devil remind you
how humble you truly are. The church wants to
examine our prayer. How fervent is it? Is it
at all fervent? Is it regular? Is it heartfelt?
Do we love God? Do we have faith? Now, this gospel,
you heard it last year. Father James gave a marvelous
and very illuminating homily on the historical
setting, who this woman was, and it was really
marvelous. You can hear it on our parish website.
I highly recommend you do that. I'm not going
to talk about those aspects of it today. His
magnificent sermon you can access and hear. So
I'm going to focus on faith, on this woman's
faith. And something about how we come to faith.
I didn't come to faith as this woman did. I came
to faith because I inherited it. It was a gift.
I received it. I can speak about the marvelous
things God has done for me. But I'm not going
to do that today. But some of you have come to
faith through other means. Epic tragedy. Difficulty.
Hurdles. Let's talk about that. This clever,
and she was, this clever Canaanite woman answers
Christ, who seems to reject her. He answers her
in a wonderful way. You know what she said. We've
all had the experience of being ignored, left
out, made to feel that we weren't included or
recognized by others. But that's not what's going
on here. Over and over, there's going to be times
in our life, and maybe it's one of those that
brought you to faith in Jesus Christ. When God
speaks to us, the same way he's speaking on that
cross, Silent. Not a word. Everything he's done
for us already. What more can he say? We don't
always listen. And if we do listen, we don't
do what he says. Given through our gospel, sermons,
our spiritual father. Or if we do, we get tired.
and we easily give up. There's no success in
any realm in our life if that's the approach
we're going to take. I don't care what it is,
and that's true for faith. This woman, this Canaanite
woman, you remember what Father said last year.
She was a Canaanite. Her ancestors were those
that were to be displaced and removed for the
people of God. The Israelites. Because they not
only worshipped lots of gods, they practiced
child sacrifice. And sacrifice involves a meal.
Cannibalism. Sexual immorality. That's her background.
By this time in history, it was somewhat different.
But this woman, she listens. She models for us
that persistence that's needed, prayer and humility,
essential companions in times of difficulty,
real difficulty. We may assume, many of us, that
God's going to come into our life by means of
some pleasant experience that will require no
change. from us. No. If you want to come after
me, pick up your cross, deny yourself, and follow
me. That's an invitation. That requires change.
So that pleasant experience is not the way the
Christian life operates. Neither is it miserable.
God is going to more likely enter our life like
he did that woman. He came to where she was.
And she was having a crisis. Her daughter was
seriously ill with possession by a demon, she
said. And he was there. Coming in the eye of
the storm for this woman, in the midst of difficulty,
in the midst of confusion, in pain, and in suffering.
You can count on it. When that happens to you,
God will be there. Let me give you an example
of someone who did come to faith that way, not
just this woman. St. Gregory the Theologian,
whose memory we celebrate today, along with St.
Basil and St. John Chrysostom. St. Gregory wrote
an account of a time when he was young, about
21 years old. He was not yet baptized. He considered
himself a Christian, but he wasn't baptized.
He came from a wealthy family. He was well educated.
He was well connected. He was prideful. He decided
to go to Greece. from Alexandria. It happened
to be wintertime. Boarded a ship. Not a good
idea. For 20 days, he writes that that ship was
caught in a hurricane with colossal waves. This
is what he wrote. Everything became great blackness.
He's there on the ship with these other people.
It's tossing and turning. Deafening thunderclaps
resounded amidst flashes of lightning. The sails
of the ship were in shreds. The main mass was
bent. The rudder was useless, being torn forcibly
from the helmsman's hands. Mountainous seas swamped
the vessel. A confused clamor arose, cries of
sailors, officers, and passengers. Mountainous
seas were coming at us. We were without water.
Since the moment the ship began to roll, the
barrels containing the precious treasure were
smashed and scattered to the depths. The sea
continued to rage. We were harassed for many
days. The question was whether the sea or the
lack of water would make an end of us. Driven
this way and that way, we had no notion of where
we were sailing. We could see no hope of being
rescued by God. All of us feared a common death.
But more terrifying for me was the hidden death.
For those murderous waters were keeping me away.
He finally realized from the purifying waters
of baptism that he says, divinize us. St. Gregory's
life was changed not by some mystical experience,
not by going off to the desert to pray, He would
do that, not by any sublime meditation on the
nature of reality, but because he faced the prospect
of his own annihilation and had to see himself
as dead already, and what was left behind in
his life he saw as absolutely nothing. He had
accomplished zero. Out of that experience, He
said this, God is the source of affliction. Isn't
that striking? But he also calls God the gentle
healer. To put it plainly, brothers and sisters,
when trouble comes, our faith gets real. Faith,
like this woman in the gospel, did not consist
for her. in knowledge of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, the nature of the person
of Christ, the two natures of God and man, the
theotokos, the saints. No, these are all important
for us. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty.
We say that, and we should mean it. Faith for
her was about faithfulness, just doing it. Going
and praying. Praying to God. Till he answers.
Following after. And when he's silent, he's still
there. But he's waiting for us to mature. To
be able to receive the gift he has to give us.
Faithfulness, you can say, is faith. But it's
action. Coming to church. Confessing your sins.
forgiving your enemy, loving your enemy, not
just your neighbor, making the sign of the cross,
glorifying God and giving thanks to him. All
these are acts of faithfulness which lead to
greater faith, which leads to miracles. And I
can attest that that is true. In my affliction,
I cried unto the Lord, and he hearkened unto
me. says the great psalmist. It's a kind of a
birth pang. My soul longing to be united with
God. Let this woman's model call us to a deeper
faith and faithfulness. I have ignored the Lord.
Oh yes, I can casually greet Jesus. I can make
my regular confession. I can go to my communion
every week. I can pray. But that's not longing
for God. That's not a heart that feels so intensely
that it needs Christ because otherwise it's annihilation.
God is there for me, I discover. And not only
that, he's looking for me all the time. May the
fruit of our lips be praise and glory to our
Savior now and ever to ages of ages.