In the readings for today, we have two totally different mentalities.
In the first reading from Numbers, the children of Israel are camped outside the Promised Land and a group of guys go to scout things out.
They come back with some good news and some bad news. Good news: The land is full of milk and honey!
Bad news: It’s filled with huge, violent people. All the guys in the recon group, save Caleb, are like, “Nah, we can’t take these huge dudes. Pack it up. We’re toast.”
The children of Israel immediately start up with moaning and wailing. “Poor us, stranded here. Nothing ever goes right. We are doomed.”
God is angry at their response. After all that God has done, they still doubt that He’s going to see them through. They have such a weak faith. Doesn’t matter that God called them out of slavery, fed them, saved them from the Egyptians, and promised them the land of Canaan. They still whine and cry and have the worst attitude.
Contrast this with the reading from Matthew. A Canaanite woman has a daughter tormented by demons and she comes to Jesus asking for help. She’s not a Jew, she’s not looking for the Messiah, but she’s probably heard or seen that Jesus does great things. She believes and so she goes to ask for help.
Jesus doesn’t give her help right away, in fact, He tests her a bit. She doesn’t relent. She has a strong faith and Jesus heals her daughter.
Too often, many Christians act like the children of Israel. We don’t want any suffering to come into our spiritual life, we feel owed by God. We grumble and gripe about this and that. “Why aren’t things perfect?”
We can’t see all the ways God has sustained and blessed us.
Instead, we should be like the Canaanite woman: Persistent in our faith, never doubting that God will come through for us. It might not be in the way WE think best, but He will come through.
Fickle, grumbling hearts lead to a weak faith, Catholic Pilgrims. There hasn’t yet been a saint, and there never will be, that had this disposition and so we must strive to not have it either.
Have a blessed Wednesday.
