REFLECTIONS TODAY
The district of Tyre was regarded as Gentile, but had a mixed population of Gentiles and Jews. The Jews there would regard themselves as God’s people, and thus superior to the “lesser” inhabitants of Gentile origin. The response of Jesus to the request of a Gentile woman would sound to be a proverbial response of the Jews: “Let the children of Israel be fed first.” And indeed Jesus has fed “first” 5,000 people in Galilee (Mk 6:34-43). Is there “food” for the Gentiles as well, considered with contempt as “dogs” (Greek kunaria)? The Syrophoenician woman accepts that she is a “dog” and that she must place herself second, after the feeding of Israel. In her nothingness, she places herself entirely at the disposal of Jesus whom she calls “Lord.” She is willing to sit under the table to be fed of the crumbs after Israel has been fed. Because of her humility and trust in him, Jesus grants her request; he tells her that the demon has gone out of her daughter. The boundaries between Jew and Gentile are transcended by her coming to Jesus with her nothingness and great faith.
Gospel • 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.
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