Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as with the after-feast of the Elevation of the Lord’s Precious Cross!

Today the cycle of Sunday Gospel readings from the Gospel that was composed by the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew is ending. Next week we will begin reading the Gospel according to St. Luke. In today’s excerpt we heard how our Saviour visited those territories around the Phoeniсian, that is gentile, not at all Jewish, towns of Tyre and Sidon, how a certain pagan woman approached Him and begged Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. We heard how Christ, in a seemingly stubborn way, refused to do anything, paid no attention to her, insulted her, did not wish to help her. We also heard about the woman’s great faith, humility, and meekness, and how Christ, having seen and heard these spiritual qualities with His physical eyes and ears, healed the miserable girl.

When we hear this Gospel narrative, for many of us two thoughts probably come to mind. First, we are amazed at the faith of this woman, and secondly, we can take notice of what may seem to us the hardheartedness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, let’s focus our attention on this second point, that is on what appears at first glance to be the rude behaviour of Christ. We believers naturally love the Saviour with all our heart, as much as this is possible for us weak people, and know that He is not simply kind, but full of such love for us that He became for our sake a real person, accepted all the inconveniences and difficulties of human life, and finally, freely spread His most-pure and innocent arms out on the cross to give up His life for the sake of our salvation. It must be emphasized that He did this not only for the sake of His chosen and beloved Jewish nation, but for all people who are ready to believe in Him. Knowing and firmly believing this, how can we explain that coarseness about which the Evangelist Matthew so clearly told us today? The Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom, along with other explainers of the Gospels, says that Christ acted in such a manner so as to make evident that extraordinary faith which that woman had. Perhaps there is no brighter example of perfect faith in the Gospel narrative. If Christ, having seen with His Divine sight the faith of the woman, had immediately satisfied her request, we would never have known what truly exceptional faith she had. Christ, knowing that His rough words would have no negative effect on this person, calmly insulted her, for the sake of our edification.

Each one of us has his or her own problems and sorrows with which we approach our Saviour. Sometimes it seems that the Lord doesn’t hear us, doesn’t answer our petitions, ignores us. This is, of course, not the case, for He loves us to such an extent that He gave up His life for the sake of our eternal happiness. If we truly believe this, let’s not be offended or think that the Lord has forgotten us, but instead, let’s take the example of the woman from today’s Gospel reading and follow Christ. Let’s continue to beseech Him, knowing and firmly believing that He will arrange everything in a manner that is most beneficial for the cleansing of our sinful passions and the acquisition of eternal life.

priest Alexis