Проповедь на Евангелие о хананейской женщине

One day Christ passed through the pagan lands of the ancient cities of Tire and Sidon. And then a certain woman came out of the city and from afar began to shout, begging Him for help: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 15:22). She heard about Jesus and came with faith to ask Him to heal her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. The language of the Canaanite woman, calling Christ Lord, was truly moved by the Holy Spirit (Cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). However, at first the Lord left her request unanswered, wanting her faith and virtue to manifest even more strongly. And even when the disciples said to Him: “Help her, because she is shouting after us,” the Lord again hesitated to come to her aid. Then the Canaanite woman comes close to Him and bows to Him with the words: “Lord, help me!” - and in response to this he receives refusal and humiliation from Him: “It is wrong to take bread from children and give it to dogs.” Being a pagan, she is equated not just with a dog, but with a pitiful little dog, but still does not despair and, despising herself, agreeing with her wretchedness and insignificance, humbly continues to ask: “Lord! But dogs also eat crumbs that fall from their owners’ tables!” And these words of the woman were truly wise and prudent. Then Christ heals her soul along with her daughter, accompanying with praise the reason for the miracle: “Woman, your faith is great, let it be as you want.” Let us learn from this teacher how to be persistent, patient, humble and contrite in prayer. Even if we are unworthy, even if we are kicked out because we are stained with our sins, let us learn not to depart from Him, but to insist with humility, asking for God’s help with all our souls. Then we will receive from Him what we ask. This kind of persistence in prayer never happens without great faith and deepest humility. If one increases, then the other also increases. Only a believer can have humility, and only a humble one can show strong faith. So let us, brothers, humble ourselves of our own free will, come to Christ, and realize our innate weakness and attacks of sinful thoughts. Let us fall on our knees before Him and not rise from them until we receive the mercy that is given to the humble. Such humility will make clear our faith in Christ, lift us up and strengthen us against the devil, who, like a poisonous snake, strives every day to sink his deadly teeth into us. There is no need to be a coward, let us pull ourselves together and, by constantly asking God, humility and abstinence, let us allow God’s grace to enter into us. The spirit of this world is characterized by exaltation and enslavement to passions. For many people, the meaning of life lies in the pursuit of pleasure, wealth, vain fame and power over others. A person, honored by reason, becomes lower than sinless animals when he slavishly obeys lust, anger, and love of money. But there are a few who have preserved the sacred dignity of man, who have managed to subjugate animal instincts. Such people became wise and chaste, and with the help of God and His grace they pacified their souls. But this is the lot of the humble. “God gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6). This was proven by the delightful Canaanite woman who became our teacher today. Only humble people are superior to dumb animals, and only humble people can truly be called human. And the proud, although he wears a human form, cannot be called a man. Therefore, brothers, if a person is proud of some of his natural qualities, or some external event carries him into arrogance, then he should remember that by doing so he deviates from faith, falls away from the grace of God and almost loses the property of being a man. So let everyone correct himself as soon as possible, return to God with repentance and humility, so that God may have mercy on Him and praise Him as His faithful and reasonable servant. Such a person will be glorified by the Son of God, who humbled Himself for our sake and gave us true and abiding glory.