—O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.—

Jesus’ interaction with the Canaanite woman brings lack of faith full circle.

In our first reading from Numbers, Israel responded to the Canaanites out of fear. The Israelites, with God marching with them, forgot the most important lesson of all —“ faith in God is paramount. Faith in God is stronger than any obstacle.

The Israelite scouts went into the land of Canaan, a people without faith in the true God, and came back afraid. They were not just afraid, but they encouraged fear in the people.

But the men who had gone up with [Caleb] said,
—We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.—
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
—The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.—

Those men certainly sinned against God, and lost trust in Him. Perhaps the sin they committed, their lack of trust, would have fallen on them alone. But no, they couldn’t leave it at that. Misery loves company.

So their sin spread:

At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed.

Today, we would attribute the Israelites response to human weakness.

Human weakness and human self-confidence are both sinful. Consider Caleb’s statement:

Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
—We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.—

Ahem, who can do so?

We can do it or we are afraid and can do nothing.

The psalmist got it right when he said:

They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.

The Canaanite woman stands in stark contract. She has no standing in Israel, a member of the race cast out by Israel, people still without faith in the true God.

Yet she persisted. Despite all the obstacles, bitterness, and suffering of her people, she persisted in faith —“ a faith that produced results beyond human understanding.

Brothers and sisters,

Today we commemorate the Fourteen Holy Helpers. These were people of faith. They were bishops, soldiers, abbots, virgins, and all but one were martyrs.

They had faith.

The people of Bavaria developed a strong devotion to these saints and their intercession. Their faith told them that by prayer, and by trusting in the Lord’s bountiful mercy, these saints’ intercession for the people’s needs would be heard.

[1] St. Christopher and [2] St. Giles against plague, [3] St. Denis, against headaches, [4] St. Blaise, against ills of the throat, [5] St. Elmo, patron of abdominal maladies [6] St. Barbara, against fever, [7] St. Vitus, against epilepsy, [8] St. Pantaleon, patron of physicians, [9] St. Cyriacus, recourse in time of temptations, especially at the hour of death; [10] St. Catherine for protection against a sudden, unprovided death; [11] St. Eustace, patron of all kinds of difficulties, especially family troubles. Sts. [12] George and [13] Erasmus, are invoked for the health and protection of animals. [14] St. Margaret of Antioch is the patron of safe childbirth.

The Church, through Her witness proclaims the power of faith.

The Church’s saints, by their example, witness to the power of faith lived.

The Church doesn’t just make its proclamation to the un-listening world, to the anonymous masses of people out there. She makes that proclamation to us.

Have faith, trust in God, God is stronger than human weakness, be like that Canaanite woman. When you cry out, like the Canaanite woman,

—Lord, help me.—

…trust that He will actually provide what you need.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.

Well that’s Jesus for you —“ all dazzling, all miraculous, and all powerful.

Consider all the displays of power exhibited by Jesus. He turned water into wine; healed; cursed a tree and it withered; and he raised people from the dead. Consider Jesus in the Jordan, with the Holy Spirit descending and the voice of the Father from heaven, much like at the Transfiguration, saying:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

If there were any doubt, surely it was dispelled with His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven.

We could spend a long time focusing on Jesus’ power —“ and people’s disbelief. We could ask how disbelief is possible. Consider Peter’s words:

We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Eyewitnesses —“ you cannot do much better than that. Will disbelief continue even when there are witnesses?

I have trouble believing, you have trouble believing, he, she, and they have trouble believing. Those folks out there don’t believe at all —“ they deny believability.

Brothers and sisters,

Jesus’ display of His glory was not only for the benefit of believing —“ so that we would believe more strongly —“ but more importantly it was His promise to us.

This miracle is not about those who question belief, nor is it about forcing belief.

Rather, in Jesus’ changing appearance we are to recognize a foreshadowing of the way, and manner, in which we will change. His transfiguration is a promise to us.

That Jesus, transfigured on the mountain side, is a revelation of what we will be one day. His conversation with Moses and Elijah will be our conversation with our forbearers, the prophets, and the saints.

The Father speaks to us and tells us:

—This is my chosen Son; listen to him.—

When we listen to Him we become more and more like Him.

By our baptism we began a journey toward becoming more and more like Jesus. At some point we were confirmed, completing our baptismal journey. After that, we made some kind of decision to show up here each Sunday.

We come here to pray, to be forgiven, to listen to God’s word, and to receive Jesus.

As with the transfiguration, our communion changes us. We become that holy bread —“ the Body of Christ. We are changed. Over and over, we are changed.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, today is about more than a miraculous event some 2,000 years ago. It is about the on-going change we are to experience. It is about the miracle we experience when we stand here, shoulder-to-shoulder, praying as one. It is about our journey out of here and into the world, carrying with us the gift that changes us inside and out.

Today is about the promise of transfiguration.

Recognize and appreciate the transfiguration as God’s gift for each of us.

St. Peter reiterates this very point:

Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

That will be the day we stand shoulder-to-shoulder before the throne of God. We will stand before God in garments of dazzling white, serving Him in union with the entire communion of saints. It will be the day Daniel prophesied:

His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.

Be changed! Stay on the path to your transfiguration , and attend to the Most High and the Lamb.

Amen.