Mark 7:24-30
Here’s a story about great need and the power of learning, loving, and inclusion. Jesus seems to do the learning. Julia Esquivel’s poem “Lesson” seems to have it right: “What a lesson, teacher, what a lesson…” The Syrophoenician woman acts out of great need and love for her daughter. Jesus shows his true love and adherence to God’s will by transcending the old prejudices of his culture and participating in the new inclusion of God’s realm. Who are the Syrophoenician women around us? Who are those whose needs are great and whose voices we must hear? They will remind us that we are connected to them and responsible to them. She held Jesus accountable to the gospel he had preached. We must listen to the voices of those whose needs are not being met and we must be willing to have them hold us accountable for the gospel we preach.