“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David”

We heard these words today in the Gospel reading.  They come out of a woman from Canaan.  Canaan is the territory that was promised by God to Abraham to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Israel.  Canaanite citizens believed in many pagan gods and Jews were not allowed to make covenants or intermarry with them.

Here we see a Canaanite woman who cries out to Christ for mercy.  Whereas Christ refused to even speak to here.  But she continued to cry out.  Then the Apostles ask Jesus to help her.  But Jesus only spoke to her and delayed to help her.  Jesus did this for a purpose; to show the woman’s faith and patience.  For she not only ignored but accepted being compared to a dog [this is not how most of us would react].  He faith in Jesus as Savior was very strong that she continued to pray for mercy.

This is what we do today, during Divine Liturgy and other services, we sing “Lord have mercy” many times for the same reason: we believe in Jesus Christ as Savor, who can heal our souls and bodies.  Not only that, but that through His mercy we will join Him in His Kingdom.

We should not stop praying “Lord have mercy” not because they are magic words, but because we believe in Jesus Christ as God and Savior.  Christians do not have magi words, we have prayer, we have church.  If a prayer or a church were magic, we would pray only when it is needed.  As Christians we have a relationship with God, Jesus Christ, through prayer, love of our neighbor, and Church (the Eucharist).  In order to keep our relationship with God alive, we pray before we go to sleep, in the morning, before and after lessons & meals, or work.  We pray individually and communally.  For instance, our individual prayer before Divine Liturgy prepares us not just for our reception of the Eucharist, but for our communal prayer together.  Communally, as people of God we pray in church every Sunday and at every Feast.

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