Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 5, 2020
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Today, we are invited to place ourselves into the footsteps of the Canaanite woman and ponder anew what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.
This tenacious woman travels to where Jesus has gone to rest to make a simple request: “heal my daughter.” She comes from Tyre and Sidon, places considered pagan territories. She greets him using the Messianic term “Son of David,” and she beseeches him to be merciful in granting her request. She is willing to risk the ridicule of her own people by making this claim. What has she heard about Jesus that compelled her to come forward with such abandonment?
We can only speculate whether or not she hears Jesus’ comment to the disciples about his mission. If she does, she places it aside, focusing on one thing and one thing alone—this man, this Jesus, who she believes can help her daughter. She is willing to place every social more, every fear of rejection aside to come before him in humility. She will take anything, no matter how small from him. She has no expectations. She places all before him in trust, and is rewarded greatly.
This is faith. This is grace. May God grant us all the same.
Prayer
“Lord, help me.” God, all we have to do is call out for help and you are there. That can be hard to do, though, because we don’t want to admit that we need your assistance. But when we ask for your help, whatever troubles us becomes easier. Remind us to ask for your help. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Rome holds the four most important church buildings in Catholicism. St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is one, of course, and three others: the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where the pope presides as bishop of Rome; the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, where the apostle Paul is buried; and the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The Church honors these four churches in the liturgical year because they are pilgrimage sites and they connect all the faithful with the pope and the universal Church. The Basilica of St. Mary Major is so called because it is the oldest church dedicated to God in honor of Mary. It serves the Church as the oldest Marian shrine for pilgrims.
The origins of this Basilica are wrapped in legend. Two Roman Christians, a Roman official named John and his wife, received a vision from Mary in 358. They were childless and wanted to dedicate their estate to Mary, so they prayed to her for a sign as to how this should be done. She appeared to them both in dreams and told them that a prominent hill in the city would be covered with snow, and this is where they should build a church.
John immediately told the pope, who had the same dream, and they went to the hill to find it covered in snow on this date, during the hottest time of the year. The pope then walked through the snow to mark out the outline of the church that was to be built there.
This story probably cannot be trusted, but it is the origin of one of Mary’s titles, Our Lady of the Snow. The church building was actually originally the palace of a prominent family before being transformed into a church in the 300s. Later it was restored and consecrated to Mary after the Council of Ephesus in 432, where the Church came to understand and proclaim Mary as Mother of God. It was decorated with artwork depicting Mary and Jesus, and a relic from the manger in Bethlehem was used in a reconstruction of the nativity there.
On this feast day in the Basilica in Rome, flower petals are dropped from the ceiling to recall the legend of Our Lady of the Snow. The Basilica of St. Mary Major is also the site of an important commemoration of Christmas in Rome because of its famous nativity scene.
Notre Dame’s own Basilica of the Sacred Heart contains relics from the nativity as well—pieces of the manger that held Jesus, and parts of the cloth in which he was swaddled.
On this feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, let us honor Mary as the Mother of God!
Image Credit: Our featured image of the Basilica of Mary Major is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed March 28, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
