Mark 7:24-30

Mark 7:24-30

Jesus went to the district of Tyre.

He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,

but he could not escape notice.

Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.

She came and fell at his feet.

The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,

and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.

For it is not right to take the food of the children

and throw it to the dogs.”

She replied and said to him,

“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”

Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.

The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed

and the demon gone.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for the blessing you have bestowed upon the entire world through your Son. You feed me each day with your Word and the Bread of Life. Help me grow in my relationships of love and give of myself as your Son did.

Encountering the Word of God

1. A Bad Reading of Today’s Gospel: One of the worst ways to read today’s Gospel is to think that Jesus was just having a bad day and fell into insulting a Gentile by calling her a dog and holding that she was unworthy of his time and healing power. While such a reading might give us a false consolation when we struggle to be kind, courteous, and gentle toward others who rub us the wrong way, there is a much better reading. Jesus was true God and true man and did not sin. As a human being, he was sometimes frustrated and even angry. And Mark does a good job recording this (see Mark 3:5; 8:12; 9:19; 10:13; 11:15-17). But this doesn’t mean Jesus fell into sins like insulting someone or excluding someone just because they weren’t a Judean or Israelite. If we remember that this section, called the Bread Section, deals with Jesus’ identity and mission to both Israel and the Gentiles, we can see how the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman is a story about faith and how salvation will be extended to the entire world after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

2. Humility and Faith in Our Prayer: When Jesus went to the district of Tyre, he was going beyond the confines of Galilee and into Gentile territory. He was approached by a Gentile woman, a Syrophoenician, whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit. Jesus’ harsh language was intended to challenge her, and her quick, witty response showed deep humility and great faith, which Jesus praised. Her interaction with Jesus is also an example of persistent prayer. When Jesus doesn’t respond immediately to her prayer for her daughter, she does not give up. She even incorporates Jesus’ challenging words in the continuation of her prayer. We need to imitate her humility and faith, and learn to pray as she does. Jesus likely smiled and might have even chuckled when he heard her response. Is my relationship with Jesus like this? When life is challenging, do I get angry with God, or do I engage in a loving dialogue with him?

3. Testing Her Faith: Jesus tested the Gentile woman’s faith when he said, “Let the children (referring to the people of Israel) be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children (of Israel) and throw it to the dogs (or puppies, a term used by the Judeans for the Gentiles).” The point of the story is not to say that Jesus insulted her or that Jesus was having a bad day, but to indicate that the blessings of the kingdom must first be given to God’s chosen people, to whom they had been promised. By saying, “let the children be fed first,” Jesus alludes to a future time when, after his passion and resurrection, the blessings of the Kingdom of God will be extended to the Gentiles. By performing the exorcism of the woman’s daughter before the resurrection, Jesus works an anticipatory sign of the blessing of liberation from sin and demonic oppression that the Gentiles will soon receive.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you offer the supreme example of love for your bride, the Church. You gave yourself for her without reserve and died for her. You cleansed her and sanctified her with your Spirit.

Living the Word of God: What is my relationship with Jesus like? When life is challenging, do I get angry with God, or do I engage in a loving dialogue with him? Do I maintain a humble, trusting attitude when there are tribulations and trials?