TODAY’S GOSPEL READING
13 FEBRUARY, 2025
Mark 7:24-30
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 GOSPEL OF THE LORD!
REFLECTION
Having challenged some of the religious principles of Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus’ pointedly visits Gentile territory. Why did Jesus go to the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast? It may have been to give him some breathing space from the crowds that pressed in on him everywhere. Later, he will move on to Sidon and eastwards through the Sea of Galilee to the area known as Decapolis (Ten Towns). All of these places were dominated by Gentiles. Because the people there recognized his healing powers, he ministered to them also. We are told that he entered a house in Tyre and did not want to be recognized. Why was this? Because his mission was only to his own people? Because people without faith only saw in Jesus a wonder-worker? Nevertheless, he was already too well known even here to escape notice. His fame had spread even to these places. It is then that a Gentile woman came to him. She prostrated herself before Jesus and begged him to exorcise the evil spirit in her daughter. Her powerful faith is immediately rewarded, and her daughter is healed. It is a story anticipating the faith of future Gentiles who will become Christians. Let us pray that that faith may be ours also. We know that Jesus excludes no one from his mercy and healing power. Both as individuals and communities, may we too be as inclusive as possible in our relationships.
PRAYER
Lord, You feed me daily with your Word and the Bread of Life. You heal me with your Most Precious Blood! Help me to grow in my relationships of love and to give of myself as You have done. You set the highest example of love for Your Bride, the Church. You gave and died for her without reserve. You have purified and sanctified her with Your Spirit. May we, through faith, draw others to you, in your Holy Name we pray. Amen
