In the past year, have we grown spiritually?  I’m always impressed by the honesty of some people who tell me that they haven’t grown; they say they were closer to God when they were younger.  If we have grown spiritually, what specifically has grown?  And we don’t want to limit ourselves to saying, ‘I feel closer to God,’ because, while God draws us to Him with our feelings, and love for Him includes our feelings, strong relationships aren’t based on feelings.  So, one of the greatest measures of spiritual growth is faith (Andy Stanley, Deep & Wide, 105).  In the past year, if we trust Jesus more, know that He is good, that He died out of love for us and rose to give us true life, that He works good out of evil, that we want to obey Him in all things, then we’ve grown.

Today’s Gospel is famous because there seems to be evidence that Jesus is not acting with love: Three times He ignores a woman in need.  However, if He didn’t love her, why, in the end, does He grant what she wants?  Why praise her faith?

“Jesus went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.  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.’ [She addresses Jesus politely and knows He can heal] But he did not answer her at all” (Mt 15:21-23)—the first refusal.  “And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ [Apparently, their reason for wanting to get rid of her is that she’s irritating] He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’” (15:23-24).  Jesus’ reason for not helping her is that His first mission was to bring the Gospel to the people of faith, the Jewish people—the second refusal. “But the woman came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ [She increases the intensity of her request, but here comes the third refusal] He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs’” (15:25-26).  Jewish people saw dogs as ritually unclean animals.  This meant that the Jewish people were the children of God, whereas pagans were the unclean people.

If this doesn’t help us understand Jesus’ actions, then let me try explain it this way.  A very popular word today is ‘resilience,’ the virtue that allows us to manage challenges and bounce back from unexpected troubles.  In 2023, Mental Health Research Canada did a study and found that 66% of Canadians feel they are resilient.  Whom do you think are more resilient: older or younger Canadians?  78% of people 55 years and older state that they are highly resilient, whereas only 44% of people 18 years and younger state they are highly resilient.

One reason often suggested is that the younger generation got everything they wanted, their parents protected them from pain, and they never faced adversity, so, when they grew up, they can’t handle life.

Therefore, if we think Jesus had a moral obligation to cure this woman’s daughter, that might not be correct.  It’s possible that, because the girl was tormented, she grew up to be as strong as her mother, who is incredibly resilient.

In my experience, many people who had difficulties as children (who saw people sick, saw people around them die, they themselves got sick, their parents said ‘No’ a lot) are spiritually stronger now.  And the ones who never suffered now have a hunger to grow stronger.

So, based on this principle and other evidence of how Jesus loves the poor and sick, when He doesn’t grant this woman’s request, we know He’s not intending to hurt her.

After the third refusal, “She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table’” (15:27).  St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “Five things are noted of this woman… (1) Humility: ‘Yet the dogs eat.’  (2) Her patience, since she patiently endured the seeming reproaches of Our Lord.  (3) Her prayer, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord.’  (4) Her perseverance: she did not cease asking till she obtained what she desired.  (5) Her faith” St. Thomas says that, if we had these qualities, we would be delivered from sin, which is the true goal.  The goal in life is not to have an easy life or avoid suffering, but to be close to Jesus, trusting and loving Him the way He loves us.

“Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.’  And her daughter was healed instantly” (15:28).  The only recorded times Jesus is amazed is when someone has great faith or little faith.  It amazes Him when people don’t trust Him, or when they know that He is so good.

On Aug. 1, 2026 Zhen Pan received the Sacraments of Initiation, and his testimony is one of faith:

 

 

Today, in the upcoming week, in the upcoming year, could we grow in faith?  The Holy Spirit offers it.  All we have to do is ask: ‘Give me faith, please.  Jesus, I trust in You, because You love me.’

Keep in mind that Alpha starts Sept. 17, 2026, Faith Studies Oct. 6, 2026, and Faith Formation Oct. 8, 2026.

A woman named Debbie Harding has written about her growth in faith.  An interesting part of her story is that she states what she asked for and what God gave: ‘I asked God for fame, that I might have the praise of my peers [She became a NFL cheerleader]. ‘I was given doubt and misfortune, that I might seek only the will of my heavenly Father.’  Her performing career didn’t go as she wanted.  ‘I asked God to help me live a life free of worry [after she got married].  Instead He let me feel the weight of my sins, that I might confess and be free [when she went to Medjugorje and made a good Confession].’  Ten years later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Though emotionally overwhelmed, she even thanked Jesus for the new journey, because He was going to accomplish something special.  ‘I asked God to give me clear vision that I might know His will.  I was led in a fog filled with obstacles and difficult people that I may pray harder to find my way home.’  A cancer survivor shared her thoughts about wanting to die, which pushed Debbie to her limit.  ‘I asked God for health, that I might be capable of doing the things I love.  I received infirmity, that I might accomplish the things that mattered.’  She started sharing with everyone how much Jesus was helping her.  Sometime later, her cancer was cured.  ‘I asked God for the world…  I got… everything I needed to reach my final home.  I am blessed beyond compare’ (Jeff Cavins & Matthew Pinto, Amazing Grace for Those Who Suffer, 183-208).

One of the greatest measures of spiritual growth is faith.