Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 5: Year 2
Morning, Psalms 56 and 57; Evening, Psalms 64 and 65;
Ecclesiastes 7:1 to 14; Galatians 4:12 to 20; Mathew 15:21 to 28:
“But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.” (Matthew 15:25)
This is the unbreakable hold we have on God in Christ Jesus; God can’t refuse the word “help.” Help from God may not be packaged the way we expect it however. God is really good at surprises.
It is because of the mother’s faith that Jesus heals her daughter. I believe there are two components at work here. The first is the love she has for her daughter. The first component brings about the second, humility. I believe for the mother, and for us, that the power of our love for someone close to us, fuels our faith and humbles us. Too often our faith doesn’t have a focus. This Canaanite mother however, even though not a Jewish Israelite, brings her desperation to our Lord Jesus. She is grateful for whatever help she can get from him, explaining that even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Her love for her daughter and her acquired faith in the man known as Jesus, humbles her and she asks him for help. And, He does.
This is a transitional move by God to include with the Jewish nation all people on earth. It becomes clear that it is not genetics that makes one belong to the kingdom. It is faith. Have you heard about the healer whose name is Jesus? Do you love someone in trouble? Does this love and faith humble you? All you need to do is pray, “Lord, help me.” Our current Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, United States of America says, the most important prayer we can pray is, “Help.”
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Dear Risen Son of the living God, from time to time we often fall into desperate situations, either for ourselves or for those we love. Help us as we come to you Lord Christ. Help those we love whom we place in your healing care. Lord, when you heal our loved ones, you heal us as well. Hear our prayer O Lord and help us we pray: Amen.
onewhoponders 