WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:07.200 Today in the first reading we hear the Lord say with an everlasting love, I have loved you. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.679 Those are some beautiful words. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:12.480 God doesn't simply say I love you. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.880 He says, I have loved you. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:25.600 Long before you were born, before you ever prayed, before you ever succeeded in anything, before you even sinned, God loved you. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.719 His love always comes first. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.600 This is one of the greatest truths of our faith. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.439 We don't earn God's love. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.200 We respond to it. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.719 Jeremiah is speaking to a people who had experienced exile, suffering, and disappointment. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:43.920 They probably wondered if God had abandoned them. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:50.399 Instead, God tells them, I'm gonna restore you, I'm going to rebuild you. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.560 You will dance again. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.039 You see, that's how God speaks. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:01.200 Sees beyond the wound to the restoration, sees beyond the exile to the homecoming. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.079 Then we come to a surprising encounter in the gospel. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.599 A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.159 Now we have to appreciate what's happening here. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:13.680 She's not Jewish. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:21.120 She belonged to a people who had been enemies of Israel for centuries, and in the eyes of many she was an outsider. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.159 Yet she comes to Jesus with one desperate prayer, Lord help me. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.519 Three words. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.000 No long speech, no theological argument, just faith. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.359 At first Jesus seems to ignore her. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.480 Then his response almost shocks us. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:39.280 Why? 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.599 Well, because Jesus is drawing something extraordinary out of her. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.680 Every answer she gives reveals a deeper faith. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:54.159 And finally she says, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their master's table. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:58.799 And Jesus responds with words, he speaks to very few people in the gospels. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.879 He says, O woman, great is your faith. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:04.719 It's beautiful. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.319 Because many of the religious leaders had knowledge. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:13.599 Many of the disciples had proximity, but this woman had faith. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.280 And faith opened the door to God's mercy. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.879 Sometimes we think our greatest obstacle is our weakness. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:21.759 It's not. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.439 Our greatest obstacle is giving up too soon. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:27.759 This woman refused to give up. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:29.199 She refused to walk away. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.319 She kept asking. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:31.520 She kept trusting. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:32.960 She kept believing. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:34.560 That's prayer. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.520 Not because we convince God, but because prayer changed us. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:47.599 Today the church also celebrates, at least as an optional memorial, the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.759 Probably one of the most beautiful churches in the world. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:01.680 It's the oldest church in the West dedicated to Our Lady, built after the Council of Ephesus in four hundred thirty one, proclaiming Mary as the Theotokos, the mother of God. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:14.240 According to an ancient tradition, Our Lady appeared in a dream to Pope Liberius and to a Roman nobleman, asking that a church be built where snow would miraculously fall. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:17.039 So on the morning of August 5th, think about that. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:27.599 August 5th, in the middle of the Roman summer, snow is said to have covered the hill, marking the place where the basilica was to be built. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:36.879 Whether one focuses on the historical tradition or simply on the enduring significance of this major basilica, the message is the same. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:40.719 Mary always leads people to her son. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:54.879 And just as the Canaanite woman discovered that God's mercy reaches beyond every human boundary, Saint Mary Major has stood for over sixteen centuries as a reminder that the church opens her doors to the whole world. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:03.520 People from every nation, every language, every culture have knelt before the altar seeking the same thing, the mercy of Christ. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.319 Perhaps that's the lesson for us today. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:11.280 Sometimes we think we're too far from God, too broken, too sinful, too forgotten. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.080 The Canaanite woman tells us differently. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:15.599 Keep asking. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.439 Jeremiah would tell us God's love is everlasting. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.839 Our lady would simply point to her son and say, Go to him, go to him always. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:33.040 So whatever burden you brought to Mass today, make the Canaanite woman's prayer your own. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.519 It's one of the shortest prayers in the Bible, and probably one of the most powerful. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.279 Lord help me. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.000 If those are words are spoken with faith, they'll never go unheard. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:53.600 Because the God who loved us with an everlasting love is still listening, still restoring, and still working miracles today. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:54.560 Amen.