“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that the children drop under the table”. (Mk. 7:24-30)

The faith of this Syro-Phoenician (Canaanite) woman is simple. She has a problem, and she comes to Jesus. That’s all. She had nothing to offer Jesus or to claim; she was totally dependent on the mercy of Jesus. Her prayer of supplication was pure, transparent.

We don’t really know why Jesus was so harsh on that woman. Maybe to test her faith. And this foreigner’s faith shone brightly.

And it is the response of this “pagan”, “infidel” woman, who comes from another “religion”, from another country, simple, honest, sincere, which makes her capable of discovering her missionary project from God Himself. It was the missionary project of liberation that reaches the despised, marginalized, excommunicated, discarded, abandoned, and embraces us all.

This Gospel is an opportunity to ask the Lord, with great faith, to make us grow in an attitude of openness, acceptance and commitment in the face of what is different.