Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
Let us bow together before the Lord on behalf of your son and his dog. For God, who cares even for the sparrows, is not indifferent to the labor of these many months. I pray that the Master who calms every restless spirit will grant this animal a quiet and obedient heart, so that their training may succeed and your son’s diligence be rewarded. Yet I would not have you fix your hope upon the outcome of a test, but upon the Giver of all good.
Observe how a dog, when treated kindly, knows its master and does not cease to fawn upon him. So let your son, in every command obeyed or delayed, learn to trust the wisdom of his heavenly Master, who orders all things for our good. The Canaanite woman, though called a dog, clung to the crumbs of mercy and was not sent away empty. If it is according to God’s will, this trial will pass, and the dog will perform as desired.
But if, in His providence, it does not, let this not become an occasion of unbelief or despair, lest, after the example of the Israelites, we harden our hearts and fail to enter into His rest. Let us labor instead to rest in the promise that nothing is beyond His care. I join my prayers with yours, asking that peace and success attend them both, and that through this small thing your son’s faith may be strengthened, anchored not in fleeting achievements but in the love of Christ, who is the Gospel of His Father and Son, in whom all things hold together.
Observe how a dog, when treated kindly, knows its master and does not cease to fawn upon him. So let your son, in every command obeyed or delayed, learn to trust the wisdom of his heavenly Master, who orders all things for our good. The Canaanite woman, though called a dog, clung to the crumbs of mercy and was not sent away empty. If it is according to God’s will, this trial will pass, and the dog will perform as desired.
But if, in His providence, it does not, let this not become an occasion of unbelief or despair, lest, after the example of the Israelites, we harden our hearts and fail to enter into His rest. Let us labor instead to rest in the promise that nothing is beyond His care. I join my prayers with yours, asking that peace and success attend them both, and that through this small thing your son’s faith may be strengthened, anchored not in fleeting achievements but in the love of Christ, who is the Gospel of His Father and Son, in whom all things hold together.
