"Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mat. 15:21-28)

The woman is a Canaanite. The Canaanites were known to defile the land of Israel with their idolatry and pagan practices. In fact, the Canaanites could be traced back to line of Cain. After the flood, Noah had three unmarried sons, and one of those sons were Canaan. In addition, Abraham traveled through the middle east and one of the pieces of land he bought was in Canaan.

In Genesis 10:15, "Canaan became the father of Si'don."Here is a connection with Jesus traveling to Tyre and Sidon. The tree commentary Tyre and Si'don is located north of Palestine.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is traveling to neighboring towns proclaiming the Good News. He has just finished talking about impurity and what defiles a person in chapter 15. Next, he hears the screams of a woman that begs Jesus to listen to her request. However, Jesus says something astonishing to the Canaanite woman, since the Canaanites were considered to be immoral people. In addition, they also represent the gentile Church that has been excluded from the kingdom of God. On the contrary, the woman knows that Jesus is a holy and righteous man, but this does not stop her from pursing and begging Jesus to listen to her request.

The Canaanite woman cried out to Jesus, "Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, Son of David." These words of mercy and recognition before Jesus that she does not consider herself to be worthy or upright before eyes. Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducee's who never recognized their sinfulness nor beg Jesus for mercy and petition. However, Jesus did not answer her a word. The question remains open. Why would Jesus not say a word to the woman who was pleading for a miracle?

The Canaanite woman petition for her daughter to be free from a demon. Scripture does not explain what kind of demon she had, but she might have had a demon that was leading her to commit a sin. However, she did not give up on her persistent toward Jesus for scripture attest, she was crying. The Canaanite woman reveals a repented heart, a turning away from sin towards the living God who forgives and restores back to life. The disciples are blind to this reality that the woman out of heart cries out with a contrite heart and Jesus could see this. As a result, the disciples are embarrass for this woman's behavior and begged Jesus to send her away.

Jesus responded, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."Jesus was not trying to discourage the woman from her persistence in asking for a miracle, he let her know that Jesus is the good shepherd and seeks out the lost sheep. Canaanite woman is the lost sheep and she listens to the voice of the shepherd. She turns away from sin and turns to the answer for her problem.

Her persistence led her to do the impossible something that the Israelite's were not able to do. Scripture says she came and knelt before him. Her body posture and reverence to the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings demonstrates her humility and recognition that she needs a savior and Jesus is the answer. For Holy Scripture says, "Return, says the Lord, I will not remain angry with you; For I am merciful, I will not continue my wrath forever. Return, rebellious children, says the Lord" (Jer. 3:12b, 14a). Thus, the woman says, "Lord, help me." She expresses a sign of repentance and she recognizes her weaknesses before God. For this reason, Jesus says to her, O woman, great is your faith!"

In this Lenten season, we are called to imitate the life of the Canaanite woman that seeks the Lord in humility. She recognized her sinfulness and cries out to Jesus for mercy and love. Jesus remains silent, but he does not despised her petition. She demonstrates a contrite heart by crying to him to help her overcome the demon her daughter had. Then, she teaches us how to obtain the blessing, she knelt down and beg the Lord.

The American Lie: "You Could Be Anyone You Want."

In America, secular society states that any person could be who they want to be as he or she grows up. Back in the ninedies, Michael Jordan became the center and inspiration for all the citizens and non-citizens in Chicago. He had outstanding skills and movements while playing basketball; he capture the attention of many viewers. As a result, gatorade put out a phrase, "You could be like Mike." In addition, there were songs that had a phrase, such as "Like Mike, I could be like Mike!" This is not true; although, being who you want to be is part of the American ideals. The point is that one cannot be like Michael Jordan because Jordan is a reflection of himself. Society was promoting a reflection of the self and not a reflection of God. 

In Genesis 1:26, the author states that God says, "Let us create man in our own image and likeness." Here there is the existence of more than one person acting in creation. Man was created to reflect the image and likeness of God. After the fall, man became the reflection of himself instead of God. He lost his identity and reflection throughout history. 

The Church Fathers zero in on the account of Creation. St. Irenaeus gives a commentary on Genesis 1:27 by recalling what Christ did in the book of the Gospel of John. Jesus heals a blind man. However, the man was born blind, and many people thought that this blind man was born with sin. Although the Jewish thought was right that each man was born with sin, he was the instrument in how Jesus will repeat the same action from the beginning of Creation. Jesus repeats the same actions as he saw his Father do in the moment of creation. Jesus takes mud and spits on it and then he smears mud on the eyes of the blind man. The blind goes off and washes in the pool; he goes to the temple, and he becomes interogated; but eventually gets kicked out. Jesus appears again, and he says, "Do you believe in the Son of Man? the man says, "Who is he, sir, so that I may believe in him? Jesus says, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." Society continues to be blinded by the truth of who the person truly is. We are called not to be reflections of the self, but to be icons and reflections of Jesus Christ. 

Thus, each person is unique and different because God created us differently. We are called to reflect the image and likeness of Christ onto others, The moment our eyes are open to this truth of where our creation comes from, it is the moment when we could reveal onto others the love of God. Being an icon means to reveal the love of Christ in generosity, service, and love onto to others who are hungry for truth.