Such is the love of a mother for her daughter. Even if she knew that
there was a slim chance of being entertained by Jesus due to prevalent
cultural biases at that time – of her being a woman and a Gentile –
still she persisted. And because of her faith and trust in Our Lord,
her daughter was freed from the demonic spirit.
What a beautiful example of complete dependence on God’s mercy and
healing! How wonderful it would be if we could show the same in all
that we do. No matter how difficult things may get in this world, our
total abandonment for the things of heaven keeps us going. We know
that Jesus will look after us even if we are unworthy, even if we
don’t deserve paradise.
At first glance, it may seem that Jesus is dismissing the Syro-
Phoenician woman because of his reply. Rather, he is giving her the
opportunity to openly proclaim her uncompromising belief, that only
Jesus can heal her child. Regardless of what others may think of her,
she believed with all her heart that Jesus will indeed come to her
aid.
Even if public opinion in general might observe our actions as
foolish, we still hold on to our relationship with Christ. We honestly
feel that no one else can be our Savior. He alone has the power to
free us from sin. He can chase away the evil forces taunting us when
we find ourselves completely overwhelmed by the realities of an
immoral society. He is our shelter in the storm of dealing with the
everyday challenges of just trying to survive.
