Dear friends, today we see a little bit of a worrying discussion between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman in the gospel of today. The response of Jesus to the plea of the Syrophoenician woman leaves us a little perplexed. However, this encounter ultimately reveals the depth of faith in the face of challenges.
Now the woman was a pagan, by birth a Syrophoenician, and she begged Jesus to cast the devil out of her daughter. And He said to her, ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ But she spoke up: ‘Ah yes, sir,’ she replied ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps’(Mark 7:24-30). Ordinarily, as a person with reasonable knowledge of things, we may not be able to tolerate this kind of joke, because it sounds offensive.
The dog was a symbol of dishonour in Jewish culture. It was also a Jewish term of contempt for the Gentiles. Nevertheless, Jesus did not mean to insult her but to check and measure the extent this woman could go to see her request granted. Sometimes, we are too quick to give up on our desire to get something done for us without trusting in God’s perfect timing. She was trying to show that this woman has a stronger faith than the Jews who claimed to be God’s favourites and to believe in God.
This story is a good lesson for us who are regularly nourished by Jesus’ Body and Blood and His Word. Yet at times, we are like the disciples, indifferent to his divine presence in our midst.
Some times, our prolonged period of suffering and anxiety could be a test to our faith in God. It may be that our faith is shallow and needed to go deeper. Let ask God today for an increase in faith, so that we could realize that God’s time is perfect for us. Peace be with you.
