Tormented by a Demon

“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David.  My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 

This Gospel is another example of how much the demons, evil spirits attack everybody, but especially young people and children – because of the special love God has for them – whether it is the more extreme cases of possession or the much more common cases of different types of torments – temptations in which the demons attack us – this is a struggle that many are having – parents and grandparents are concerned about how children or grandchildren are turning away from the Lord – Is there someone you know that is tormented by a demon – in a sense it seems like our whole society is being tormented by demons and using many sophisticated techniques such as media – This Gospel shows this woman’s daughter tormented by demons – the striking thing is that Jesus doesn’t seem to listen – He seems to ignore what she is asking – we don’t know how long this had been going on that her daughter had been suffering – and how long this woman had been praying – now she has the opportunity to come to Jesus, Himself – even though she is a Gentile a pagan, who was very much looked down upon by the Jews, this was so important that she comes anyway – but God doesn’t seem to be listening to her – and that is another struggle we face – God doesn’t seem to be listening – Jesus doesn’t respond to her at first – then when He does, He responds to the Apostles He says,” I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.”  – she is a Canaanite woman – the woman comes and says, “Lord, help me” and He replied, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” – that is what the Jews thought of the Canaanites…as dogs – back then calling someone a dog was a terrible insult – and those are the words of Jesus – He seems to be rejecting her request – this Gospel is showing how hard faith can be – when God doesn’t’ seem to be listening – when God seems to reject what we are asking Him – we can’t understand why God is treating us like that – it seems so cruel – here we are going to gradually see – it wasn’t  because He wanted to be cruel – He did want to respond and save her daughter and liberate her from a demon – also, He seemed to be using this opportunity to form His Apostles who had prejudice and He wanted to form them precisely by the example of the Canaanite woman – how often does Jesus complain about the lack of faith…even among the people of Israel – even among the people He grew up with – even among the Apostles – yet here is a pagan woman and Jesus wants to use her as an example – though He seems to be rejecting her at first, He really wants to glorify her – give her to us as an example throughout the centuries – what can we learn from her – what can free a soul from demons – throughout humanity there has been a lot of superstitious beliefs about what is needed to free us from demons – ideas of complicated secret rites that needed to be performed – today we have horror movies that show magic practices that need to be used against demons – but the Gospel is showing us something very different what is truly effective against demons – what motivates this woman – she is motivated by love – she wants to save her daughter – she is not coming for herself, she is coming for her daughter – she is also motivated by faith in Jesus – even though she is a pagan, she is drawn to Jesus – she is trusting in Him – even when Jesus seems to be rejecting her – there were a lot of people that didn’t believe in Jesus, even after He worked miracles – she continues to trust in Him, even when He seems to be rejecting her – Jesus told her, “Great is your faith.” – she is motivated by love and faith, so what does she do – she intercedes – so this shows us the power of intercession, praying for another person – maybe the girl was not able to pray for herself – we all know people who are not praying for themselves who are not praying to Jesus – you can help them with your prayer – what they are not asking for themselves, Jesus can give them through our intercession – that is what this is showing for someone is deep in sin, chains of a demon, not necessarily possession  – a prayer of your loved ones can be very powerful – how does the mother intercede…she doesn’t give up – she perseveres even when God seems to be rejecting her – she perseveres with humility – after Jesus says that it isn’t right to take from the children and give to the dogs, she responds with, “ Please Lord even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their master.” – this is extreme humility and takes advantage of the words that almost seem insulting…to use it for intercession – at the root of satan’s sin is pride and the whole of society is infected – the devil can’t tolerate humility – that is what this woman is using…act of humility – it is hard for us…our own ego – what is the result, “ Oh woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.” – Her daughter was healed – so she wins – it almost like Jesus wanted to show us the weakness of God – even though Jesus said His mission was to the children of Israel it wasn’t to the pagans, the Gentiles – He was going to send His Apostles to the Gentiles, but His mission was to the people of Israel – but because of her love, faith, perseverance and humility, it is like she won – she won despite what seemed to be the plans of God – it almost like God is showing us His weakness – how He wants us to approach Him, so He can act – humble faith, so God can act – the woman was motivated by love and faith in Jesus interceding with humble perseverance and this attitude is so powerful against demons – this woman reminds us of another mother who against the arrogant pride of satan, she who by her humility will crush with her heel the head of the serpent – a priest was involved in a very difficult exorcism that lasted for quite some time – the last thing the spirit said was, “I’m leaving, because His Mother makes me.”  –  the demon didn’t want to say the name of Jesus or the name of Mary, had to acknowledge that it was the Mother of God, who was casting him out, because of the power of her intercession – her humble intercession with the Lord – so in this Mass with our Blessed Mother is there someone you know who is tormented by a demon – you can bring them in this Mass to the Lord – you can intercede for them – at the moment when the priest lifts up the chalice at offertory, you can place that person and all the persons you know who need liberation, you can place them spiritually in the chalice – bringing them to Jesus with faith – and not being discouraged, if we don’t see a sense of response right away – but persevering with humility – faith so God can act –