“Eve was not taken out of Adam’s head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.” (Matthew Henry)

Today’s readings seem to celebrate womanhood, in the first reading we see the creation of woman. Men and women are different, each bring different strengths, abilities, and perspectives to the world making the world the diverse, colourful and beautiful place it is. Men and women are divinely designed to be complementary. They must come together to show the fullness of God.

In today’s Gospel proclamation we see a woman who shows extraordinary inner strength and depth, as she pleads with the Lord Jesus for the healing of her daughter.

• We see hunger in her plea, as she longs for her daughter to be healed. A longing which would not take “no” for an answer. It is her hunger that led her to seek out the Lord Je-sus, seeking and finding Him even though;He was “in hiding.”

• We see her perseverance in prayer even when it seemed that she was being denied the healing that she longed for. We see her tenacious, resilient prayer, which did not demand healing, rather, asked for the crumbs from the table, acknowledging crumbs from God’s bounty are enough to heal her daughter.

• We see her humility, she did not turn away from the insulting words that the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, she simply recognized that He was above her, she did not defend herself, she simply accepted her position in the eyes of the Lord and humbled herself before Him. She did not try to dictate to Him how she should be treated; she simply left herself in the hands of God. Her disposition of hunger, perseverance and humility earned her the admiration of the Lord Jesus who in St. Matthew’s gospel proclaims her to be a woman of great faith.

Today as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes we remember the most perfect example of womanhood “the blessed Mother Mary”. She was a woman filled with the grace of God whom the Angel Gabriel proclaimed blessed above all women. Who’s “Fiat” total and complete acceptance of the will of God in her life made her the “ark of the new covenant”, and the means by which the word became flesh and salvation entered the world.

Prayer: Abba Father, we bring to you all the women in our lives and we ask that you bless them with your strength and grace to fulfill their missions. Amen