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.
The peace of the Lord be with you.
Today both the Gospel reading and the reading from Genesis point out that God really tries to meet our needs. Our cries and our desires do not go unnoticed. In Genesis, God recognizes that Adam is looking for someone who is like him and that can be a companion with him throughout life. From this desire, God creates woman. In the case of our Gospel, a mother desperately wants her child to stop being tormented. Although it may seem harsh, Jesus challenges her and she rises to the occasion. From her response, made in great humility, Jesus recognizes the sincerity of this woman who lives outside the tribes of Israel.
May God grant us the grace today to have a few moments to reflect on our lives, the humility to recognize our needs, and the sincerity in our hearts to make those requests confidently for ourselves and others. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.