Reflection for February 8, Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time: Mark 7:24-30

Gospel: 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.

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Reflection:

Does Jesus favor a certain group of people? No, Jesus doesn’t not have a chosen group of people. Jesus came into this world not to save a select group of people but for everyone of us: Sinner, non-sinner and Christians and non-Christians alike. 

In the gospel, a Greek woman, a non-Jew and an outsider went to Jesus to beg for healing for her daughter. What did Jesus do? He tested the faith of the woman and when He saw her great faith Jesus granted her request for healing for her daughter. 

What does this tell us about Jesus? Jesus is for everyone of us regardless who we are and the sins that we have committed. What is important for the Lord is we humbly go to Him and reach out to Him with faith. For if we have faith nothing is impossible for Him, Jesus would grant us what we want for as long as we have faith. 

Do you want Jesus to do miracles in your life? Humbly beseech and beg Him. Simply trust Him and abandon yourself to Him. In His own perfect time, He will give you your heart’s desire.  Believe and have faith. - Marino J. Dasmarinas