but he could not remain hidden. A woman, whose small daughter had an evil spirit,
heard of him, and came and fell at his feet. Now this woman was a pagan,
a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
Jesus told her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread
and throw it to the puppies.” But she replied, “Sir, even the puppies under the table eat
the crumbs from the children’s bread.” Then Jesus said to her, “You may go your
way; because of such a response, the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when
the woman went home, she found her child lying in bed, and the demon gone.

Reflect

“Reach out to people.” We are more comfortable dealing with people who look like us
and act according to our manner. It is not always easy for us to cross borders in order
to reach out to people whose ways are different from our ways. Today’s Gospel narrates
Jesus crossing borders, moving into the Tyrian territory. Tyre is outside the territory
of Israel. In modern geography, the biblical Tyre can be located in the southern part of
Lebanon along the Mediterranean coast. According to the Gospel, it is in this place
where Jesus encountered the Syrophoenician woman. Her daughter had been
possessed by an evil spirit. The woman begged Jesus to drive out the evil spirit but
Jesus, at first, seemed to refuse casting out the demon because his mission seemed to
focus only on Israel. Jesus eventually cast out the demon for the benefit of the child and
her mother. As we continue our faith journey, we are challenged to expand our sense
of mission, reaching out to those who are outside our small territory.

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