20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

There is one sentence in today’s Gospel that is almost unbearable: “But he did not say a word in answer to her.” The woman has a suffering daughter and comes to Jesus. She believes, she begs, and Jesus is silent.

Why? Perhaps this is one of the hardest experiences of faith: not when God says no, but when God says nothing. Silence leaves us wondering: Does God see me? Does He care? Did He hear my prayer?

And yet, what if the silence itself is part of God’s answer? What if His silence has the same authority and eloquence as His words. Not because He is playing games with us. But because God sometimes withholds an immediate answer in order to give us something greater and deeper.

Benedict XVI says that God’s silence “does not indicate His absence.” In fact, His silence can become a decisive stage in our journey with Him. He points to Christ Himself on the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—and yet, in the very darkness, He finally entrusts Himself to the Father: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

That is exactly what happens to the Canaanite woman. Jesus’ silence does not make her run away. It makes her go deeper. At first she asks for something: “Have pity on me!” Then she simply says "Lord, help me.” Finally she reaches the astonishing humility of saying, in effect, “I don’t need to understand. I only need one crumb of your mercy.”

And Jesus says: “O woman, great is your faith!”. Perhaps Jesus is eager to see the same trust in you and me. Perhaps there is a question underneath all our prayers: “If God remains silent about my future, will I trust Him? If my suffering does not immediately disappear, can I believe that God is somehow doing something within me that I cannot yet see?

Perhaps that is the prayer God wants from us today: “Lord, I don’t understand your silence. But I refuse to interpret your silence as your absence. You are here, I will remain, I love You”.

Fr. Remi Morales
Pastor