Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

“… he went to look for it.” Mk. 7:24-30

It is in the region of Tyre, recognized as a land of pagans, that Jesus surprisingly performs a miracle moved by the faith of a woman of Syro-Phoenician nationality, that is, not born in Israel. As a mother, she tirelessly seeks that her daughter be healed of an impure spirit. Jesus, who feels sent to rescue the lost sheep of Israel, responds to the woman with an expression that is not very courteous in our interpretation: “it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”; in reality it was an expression with which the Jewish writers called the pagans and Gentiles of that time. However, the faith of this mother is so great that she gives another answer that surprises Jesus; “The dogs under the table also eat the crumbs that the children throw,” which makes her daughter be cured. How great is my faith?