Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 9

Avoiding Babylon

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The power of persistent faith takes center stage in this meditation for the First Week of Lent as we examine the remarkable story of the Canaanite woman. When she approaches Jesus seeking healing for her daughter, his response seems harsh: "the bread of the children is not for dogs." Yet her humble persistence—"but the little dogs eat the crumbs"—ultimately wins his heart. "O woman, great is thy faith," Jesus declares, giving us a profound model of how faith becomes our greatest strength.
Why do we struggle to effectively deploy our faith? The answer lies in our resistance to acknowledging our complete dependence on God. Drawing from Father Patrick Troadec's "Toward Easter," we explore how true faith requires us to "place ourselves humbly with the little dogs under the Master's table" to receive grace despite our unworthiness. This meditation includes beautiful prayers and reflections from spiritual giants like St. Catherine of Siena and St. Louis de Montfort, reminding us that faith serves as the foundation for all virtue.
The conversation expands to consider how faith faces relentless attacks in our modern world. From secular education to materialistic culture, everything seems designed to replace true faith with counterfeits. Yet, without authentic faith, we cannot properly develop hope or charity. The meditation offers practical wisdom for strengthening this essential virtue: daily recitation of the Creed, making formal Acts of Faith each morning, and resolving not to lose confidence in God during trials. As we continue our Lenten journey, we're invited to rediscover faith not as a passive inheritance but as our active strength, enabling us to persevere through life's challenges with the humble confidence of the Canaanite woman.

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Chapters

1. Welcome to First Week of Lent (00:00:00)

2. The Canaanite Woman's Faith Story (00:02:20)

3. Prayer and Thoughts from Saints (00:05:19)

4. Three Resolutions for Today (00:06:45)

5. Faith's Connection to Hope and Charity (00:07:05)

6. Making Daily Acts of Faith (00:10:10)