Sunday’s Gospel about the Syrophoenician woman who came to Jesus begging him to heal her daughter who was possessed by an unclean spirit and her own personal faith made me think about my own. When I am honest with myself, I have to admit that I see so much of that woman in me, at least, thankfully, only at times. But even so, I can relate to her situation.
And so I wonder if, at a first reflection on the story, if Jesus was simply testing the Syrophoenician woman. I wonder if he simply wanted to see if her request was based on her own faith that he could really do what she wanted him to do or if she simply had heard about Jesus and was taking a chance. As the Gospel points out, she certainly knew of Jesus and what he had been doing, the miracles he had been working. Maybe she truly believed Jesus could cure her daughter or maybe it was simply a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained. I wonder.
That is not uncommon in this life. People who have no faith often say a prayer just before surgery or just before embarking on some risky venture. If God answers their prayers, if the surgery is successful, if the adventure turns out well, well and good. If God does not answer the prayer, well God never did anyway, so they think. They say that there are no atheists in a foxhole. There may be no atheists when the last resort is prayer even to a God one does not believe in.
Sometimes, even in the lives of the faithful, even in my own life, I must admit, God is the one we turn to as a last resort. We do all we can, all we can think of, and then when we have run out of options, we turn to God. Sometimes, instead of putting the need in God’s hands up front, we do so almost in hindsight. That is not to say that when we do turn over the situation to God, we back off and let God do the rest. God always expects us to do what we can do while God is doing God’s part.
The woman in the Gospel had done all she could to get help for her daughter. Her daughter was still possessed. She had run out of options. But, as the conversation between her and Jesus seems to indicate, certainly as Jesus’ words and actions seem to attest, the woman truly believed that Jesus could do something. Moreover, she believed that Jesus should do something even if she was a Gentile. Her faith brought her the miracle she wanted and needed.
At first glance this passage seems to indicate that God plays favorites. I suspect that it sometimes seems that way. “Seems” is the operative word. Why do some people suffer more than others? Why are some prayers answered and some not? Truly God hears our prayers no matter who we are. In fact, we know God knows are needs and wants even before we open our mouth in prayer. Our prayers are answered or not, not because God plays favorites but because God knows what is best for us better than we know what is best. What was best for that woman was that her daughter be healed, and she was. Isn’t that what, too, want when we pray: what is best for us?
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