At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

Matthew 15:21-28

The Right Time

We often want God to take problems away immediately. He knows the right time, however, and waits for us to arrive at the right disposition of receptivity. When Jesus met this Gentile mother, initially he does not respond to her plea for help.

If we have faith in Jesus, why does he not just solve our problems right away? Why does he allow us to suffer? In this case, if Jesus is waging war against the demons, why does he not jump at the opportunity to cast a demon out of a poor child? It seems counterproductive to his mission to let people be possessed and tormented by evil spirits. The woman persists as she begs for mercy, saying, “Lord, help me.” In this, she provides an important example. God often makes us wait so that we can come to the right interior disposition. Rather than taking away our problems, he wants to fix things within us and waits for the right response of the heart.

The Gentile woman persists. After she brings her request, she was met with silence from God and resistance from the disciples. Throughout this difficult test, her faith was not shaken. This must be our model for prayer. When you ask the Lord for help, you must remain persistent in your pleading, and you must not waver in your faith. At times, you will not hear God’s response to your prayer. Men may dismiss you and attempt to dissuade you. God may even say that your favor should not be granted at this time or he may have something else in mind that is even better. But whenever you pray, you must follow the example of the woman in today’s Gospel and be persistent in your intercession and constant in your faith.

In your prayer today, recall any prayers that have gone without a response. Remain constant in your righteous petitions and firm in your faith.

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:22-33

Sacred Silence

Jesus was seeking silence and solitude for prayer after he heard about John the Baptist’s death (see Matthew 13:13). He and his apostles crossed the Sea of Galilee to a deserted place, but the crowds raced around the sea, and they were waiting to hear him preach. Although he was seeking solitude, he was moved with pity and preached to them. When the crowds dispersed, Jesus sent his apostles ahead, and “he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”

When Jesus prays to the Father, he heeds his own advice. He does not make a spectacle on the streets or in the synagogues. He seeks out solitude, and his Father hears him in secret (see Matthew 6:6)

In The Power of Silence, Cardinal Robert Sarah explains the importance of silence in our lives today. He says:

If man seeks God and wants to find him, if he desires a life of the most intimate union with him, silence is the most direct path and the surest means of attaining it. Silence is of capital importance because it enables the Church to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, imitating his thirty silent years in Nazareth, his forty days and forty nights of fasting, and intimate dialogue with the Father in the solitude and silence of the desert. (pp. 219-20)

The power of silence is rooted in the imitation of Christ. Jesus taught us to pray silently and frequently demonstrated the importance of silent prayer.

In the same book, Cardinal Sarah warns that silence can become a kind of idolatry if we seek silence as a goal in itself: “We do not seek silence for its own sake, as though it were our goal. We seek silence because we seek God. And we will find it if we are silent in the very depths of our heart” (p. 193). We must not enjoy silence as a final end, but we must use it as a means of drawing closer to the Father in heaven.

In the modern world, we are constantly surrounded by noise. Our phones are always sounding notifications, and even when they are not notifying us of anything, we are continuously checking them. The drive to work is filled with noise from the radio or some podcast or audiobook to which we listen. Many men walk around with AirPods in their ears, oblivious to the world around them. It is so hard to find time to listen to God silently. Even the calls to silent prayer in the Mass are frequently omitted. Like a storm at sea, the noise of the modern world threatens to overtake us.

As Exodus men, we have committed to daily silent prayer. This is a time to turn off the interior and exterior distractions that threaten to eliminate the time we have set aside to listen to God.

Today, honor your commitment to silent prayer. Imitate Jesus and go to a deserted place to sit silently, drawing closer to your Father in heaven.

Luke 9:28b-36

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up a mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

The Chosen Son

Jesus went up a mountain to pray, and he brought Peter, James, and John with him. These three men were among Jesus’s closest and most trustworthy friends. St. Hilary of Poitiers (d. 367) interprets this event allegorically, saying, “By the three disciples who were taken apart is shown the future election of the people who were to come from a threefold origin: Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (Commentary on Matthew, 186) Thus, just as the world would be reborn through Noah’s offspring, the Church would be born through Jesus’s apostles. Ultimately, Peter, James, and John were given the tremendous gift of witnessing Jesus’s glory to strengthen their faith for their impending trials.

Jesus revealed his glory when his “face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” It must have been both dazzling and blinding to look at. Similarly, in Exodus, “the glory of the Lord was seen as a consuming fire on the top of [Mt. Sinai]” (Exodus 24:17). Both on Mt. Sinai and on Mt. Tabor, the glory of God is seen as a blinding light.

St. Luke asserts that the disciples overhear Moses and Elijah speaking to Jesus about “his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” This account is slightly different from the other Gospel accounts since they do not include the details of what they spoke about (see Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8). St. Luke is going a step further than the other evangelists and directly connecting Moses and Jesus by identifying Christ as the prophet-like Moses (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

The three persons of the blessed Trinity are revealed during the transfiguration. The Father speaks aloud, and the cloud of the Spirit overshadows them. Again, the cloud is reminiscent of Moses on Mt. Sinai (see Exodus 24:15-18). Here, Jesus both embodies the prophet-like Moses, and he far surpasses the Old Testament prophecy. For example, God tells Moses:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. Anyone who will not listen to my words which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will hold accountable for it. (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).

But Jesus is not merely the mouthpiece of God; he is the Word of God made man, and the Father commands us to “listen to him.”

When the Father revealed himself on the mountain, the disciples “fell silent.” In your prayer today, silently reflect on Jesus’s identity and on the goodness of the most holy Trinity in your life.