神父的話                

持續的祈禱

今天福音裡提及的信仰女英雄是一位迦南婦人。 她雖然不是以色列人，也不是大眾相信耶穌來拯救的人，而是一個外邦人，是一個陌生人，但她卻堅持要取得這位年輕行聖蹟者的注意。這位婦人深知她卑微的地位，她謙遜地向耶穌懇求說：「主，我懇求你，就算是狗也可以吃到主人桌上掉下來的食物碎屑」。

但這位婦人堅持到底，沒有離去，直至她得到她向耶穌所求：「主，達味之子，可憐我吧！」她的信德是多麽偉大啊！在那個時代，「主」和「達味之子」兩個尊稱是有同樣崇高的意義。因此，耶穌感到驚異地說：「婦人，你的信德真偉大！」。就在那時候，因這位婦人的信德，她的女兒病好了。

這位迦南婦人的美麗小故事給我們多個教訓。其中兩個就是：(一) 耶穌的同情心超越自認為被選民族之外；(二) 偉大的信德和持續的祈禱是可以求得神蹟。神蹟是可以發生的，同時我們或會聽過「偉大信德可移山」，因為天主是無所不能的。但是，我們是否跟這位卑微而單純的迦南婦人，有同樣持續的祈禱和偉大的信德呢？

聖言會 Romy Abulad  修士
 

Persistence in Prayer

Our faith heroine in this Sunday's gospel is a Canaanite woman. Insistent to get the attention of the young miracle-worker, the woman is not an Israelite and is thus an outsider, a stranger, not the one for whom Jesus is supposedly sent. "Please, Lord, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters," is the woman's humble plea, accepting her lowly status.

But this troublesome woman persists and will not go away until she gets what she wants from Jesus. "Have pity on me, Lord, son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." No one will do this without great faith in the man whom she calls Lord, son of David. These are two titles, Lord and Son of David, known to the biblical people and equally lofty in meaning. Which is why Jesus shows amazement at her, "O woman, great is your faith!" And it is this great faith that heals her daughter at that very hour.

There are many lessons we can draw from this beautiful little story about the Canaanite woman, of which we can mention two: first, that Jesus' compassion reaches out beyond the borders of those who conventionally regard themselves as the chosen people; and second, that great faith and persistence in prayer can work wonders. Miracles can happen and, as we hear elsewhere, faith can move mountains, for there is nothing impossible with God. But are we as persistent and is our faith as great as that of the lowly and simple Canaanite woman?

Bro. Romy Abulad, SVD