CCC Cross Reference:
Gn 2:18-25 1605; Gn 2:18 371, 1652; Gn 2:19-20 371, 2417; Gn 2:22 369, 1607; Gn 2:23 371; Gn 2:24 372, 1627, 1644, 2335; Gn 2:25 376
Mk 7:29 2616
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Back to Deacon’s Bench ‘09
Back to SOW II '11
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Back to SOW II '19
Back to SOW II '21
Reading 1
Gn 2:18-25
The LORD God said:
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman,'
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel
Mk 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.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 2:18-25
The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:
‘This at last is bone from my bones,
and flesh from my flesh!
This is to be called woman,
for this was taken from man.’
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.
Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 127(128):1-5
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel Mark 7:24-30
Jesus left Gennesaret and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not pass unrecognized. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him straightaway and came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a pagan, by birth a Syrophoenician, and she begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ But she spoke up: ‘Ah yes, sir,’ she replied ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps.’ And he said to her, ‘For saying this, you may go home happy: the devil has gone out of your daughter.’ So she went off to her home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Thursday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 2:18-25
The Creation of Eve
-----------------------------
[18] Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." [19] So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. [20] The man gave names to all, cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a Shelper fit for him. [21] So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; [22] and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. [23] Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was etaken out of Man." [24] Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. [25] And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
2:18-25. God continues to take care of man, his creature. The sacred writer conbeys this by means of a human metaphor, depicting God as a potter who realizes his creation is not yet perfect. The creation of the human being is not yet over: he needs to be able to live in a full and deep union with another of his kind. The animals were also created by God, but they cannot provide complete companionship. So God creates woman, giving her the same body as man. From now on it is possible for the human being to communicate. The creation of woman, therefore, marks the climax of God's love for the human being he created.
This passage also shows us man's interiority: he is aware of his own aloneness. Although here loneliness is more a possibility and a fear rather than a real situson, we are being told that it is through awareness of being alone that man can appreciate the benefit of communion with others.
2:19-20. Like man, animals are created out of matter, but they are not said to have received from God the breath of life. Only man is given the breath of life, and this is what makes him essentially different from animals: man has a form of life given him directly by God; that is to say, he is animated by a spiritual principle which enables him to converse with God and to have real communion with other human beings. We call this "soul" or "spirit". It makes man more akin to God than to animals, even though the human body is made from the earth and belongs to the earth just as an animal's body does (cf. the notes on 1:26 and
2:7).
"The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the 'form' of the body (cf. Council of Vienne, "Fidei Catholicae"): that is, it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 365).
2:21-22. This sleep is a kind of death; it is as if God suspended the life he gave man, in order to re-shape him so that he can begin to live again in another way-- by being two, man and woman, and no longer alone. By describing the creation of woman as coming from one of Adam's ribs, the sacred writer is saying that, contrary to people's thinking at the time, man and woman have the same nature and the same dignity, for both have come from the same piece of clay that God shaped and made into a living being. The Bible is also explaining the mutual attraction man and woman have for one another.
2.23 When man--now in the sense of the male human being--recognizes woman as a person who is his equal, someone who has the same nature as himself, he discovers in her the fit "helper" God wanted him to have. Now indeed the creation of the human being is complete, having become "man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion" (John Paul II, General Audience, 4 November 1979).
The first man's acclaim for the first woman shows the capacity both have to associate intimately in marriage. Man's attitude to woman as it comes across here is that of husband to wife. "In his wife he sees the fulfillment of God's intention: 'It not good that the man should he alone; will make him a helper fit for him,' and he makes his own the cry of Adam, the first husband: 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.' Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: 'You are not her master,' writes St Ambrose ("Hexaemeron", 5, 7, 19) 'but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife [...]. Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love"' (John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 25).
2:24. These words are a comment by the sacred writer in which, having told the story of the creation of woman, he depicts the institution of marriage as something established by God at the time when human life began. As John Paul II explains, "this conjugal communion sinks its roots in the natural complementarity that exists between man and woman, and is nurtured through the personal willingness of the spouses to share their entire life-project, what they have and what they are: for this reason such communion is the fruit and the sign of a profoundly human need" ("Farniliaris Consortio", 19).
By joining in marriage, man and woman form a family. Even the earliest translations of the Bible (Greek and Aramaic), interpreted this passage as meaning "the two will become one flesh", thereby indicating that marriage as willed by God was monogamous. Jesus also referred to this passage about the origin of man to teach the indissolubility of marriage, drawing the conclusion that "what God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mt 19:5 and par.) The Church teaches the same: "The intimate partnership of life and the love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws: it is rooted in the contract of its partners, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent. It is an institution confirmed by the divine law and receiving its stability, even in the eyes of society, from the human act by which the partners mutually surrender themselves to each other; for the good of the partners, of the children, and of society this sacred bond no longer depends on human decision alone. For God himself is the author of marriage and has endowed it with various benefits and with various ends in view" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 48,).
2:25. Here we can see how man and his body were totally in harmony, as were man and woman; this harmony will be broken due to the sin the narrative goes on to report.
*********************************************************************************************
From: Mark 7:24-30
The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman
-------------------------------------------------------------
[24] And from there he (Jesus) arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. [25] But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
24. The region of Tyre and Sidon is nowadays the southern part of Lebanon -- Phoenicia in ancient times. The distance from the lake of Gennesaret to the frontier of Tyre and Sidon is not more than 50 kms (30 miles). Jesus withdrew from Palestine to avoid persecution by the Jewish authorities and to give the Apostles more intensive training.
27. Our Lord actually uses the diminutive--"little dogs" to refer to the Gentiles -- thereby softening a scornful expression which Jews used. On the episode of the Canaanite woman cf. notes on parallel passages, Mt 15:21-28.
[The notes on Mt 15:21-28 states:
21-22. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its north-eastern border. In Jesus' time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles.
Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a "Canaanite"; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a "Syrophoenician" (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13).
The Canaanite woman's prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David)--which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: "Have mercy on me." Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.
24. What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46).
25-28. This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the woman's faith that she deserves exceptional praise: "Great is your faith!" Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: "Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 101).]
*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
Gn 2:18-25
The LORD God said:
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman,'
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel
Mk 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.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 2:18-25
The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:
‘This at last is bone from my bones,
and flesh from my flesh!
This is to be called woman,
for this was taken from man.’
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.
Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 127(128):1-5
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel Mark 7:24-30
Jesus left Gennesaret and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not pass unrecognized. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him straightaway and came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a pagan, by birth a Syrophoenician, and she begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ But she spoke up: ‘Ah yes, sir,’ she replied ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps.’ And he said to her, ‘For saying this, you may go home happy: the devil has gone out of your daughter.’ So she went off to her home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Thursday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 2:18-25
The Creation of Eve
-----------------------------
[18] Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." [19] So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. [20] The man gave names to all, cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a Shelper fit for him. [21] So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; [22] and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. [23] Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was etaken out of Man." [24] Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. [25] And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
2:18-25. God continues to take care of man, his creature. The sacred writer conbeys this by means of a human metaphor, depicting God as a potter who realizes his creation is not yet perfect. The creation of the human being is not yet over: he needs to be able to live in a full and deep union with another of his kind. The animals were also created by God, but they cannot provide complete companionship. So God creates woman, giving her the same body as man. From now on it is possible for the human being to communicate. The creation of woman, therefore, marks the climax of God's love for the human being he created.
This passage also shows us man's interiority: he is aware of his own aloneness. Although here loneliness is more a possibility and a fear rather than a real situson, we are being told that it is through awareness of being alone that man can appreciate the benefit of communion with others.
2:19-20. Like man, animals are created out of matter, but they are not said to have received from God the breath of life. Only man is given the breath of life, and this is what makes him essentially different from animals: man has a form of life given him directly by God; that is to say, he is animated by a spiritual principle which enables him to converse with God and to have real communion with other human beings. We call this "soul" or "spirit". It makes man more akin to God than to animals, even though the human body is made from the earth and belongs to the earth just as an animal's body does (cf. the notes on 1:26 and
2:7).
"The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the 'form' of the body (cf. Council of Vienne, "Fidei Catholicae"): that is, it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 365).
2:21-22. This sleep is a kind of death; it is as if God suspended the life he gave man, in order to re-shape him so that he can begin to live again in another way-- by being two, man and woman, and no longer alone. By describing the creation of woman as coming from one of Adam's ribs, the sacred writer is saying that, contrary to people's thinking at the time, man and woman have the same nature and the same dignity, for both have come from the same piece of clay that God shaped and made into a living being. The Bible is also explaining the mutual attraction man and woman have for one another.
2.23 When man--now in the sense of the male human being--recognizes woman as a person who is his equal, someone who has the same nature as himself, he discovers in her the fit "helper" God wanted him to have. Now indeed the creation of the human being is complete, having become "man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion" (John Paul II, General Audience, 4 November 1979).
The first man's acclaim for the first woman shows the capacity both have to associate intimately in marriage. Man's attitude to woman as it comes across here is that of husband to wife. "In his wife he sees the fulfillment of God's intention: 'It not good that the man should he alone; will make him a helper fit for him,' and he makes his own the cry of Adam, the first husband: 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.' Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: 'You are not her master,' writes St Ambrose ("Hexaemeron", 5, 7, 19) 'but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife [...]. Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love"' (John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 25).
2:24. These words are a comment by the sacred writer in which, having told the story of the creation of woman, he depicts the institution of marriage as something established by God at the time when human life began. As John Paul II explains, "this conjugal communion sinks its roots in the natural complementarity that exists between man and woman, and is nurtured through the personal willingness of the spouses to share their entire life-project, what they have and what they are: for this reason such communion is the fruit and the sign of a profoundly human need" ("Farniliaris Consortio", 19).
By joining in marriage, man and woman form a family. Even the earliest translations of the Bible (Greek and Aramaic), interpreted this passage as meaning "the two will become one flesh", thereby indicating that marriage as willed by God was monogamous. Jesus also referred to this passage about the origin of man to teach the indissolubility of marriage, drawing the conclusion that "what God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mt 19:5 and par.) The Church teaches the same: "The intimate partnership of life and the love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws: it is rooted in the contract of its partners, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent. It is an institution confirmed by the divine law and receiving its stability, even in the eyes of society, from the human act by which the partners mutually surrender themselves to each other; for the good of the partners, of the children, and of society this sacred bond no longer depends on human decision alone. For God himself is the author of marriage and has endowed it with various benefits and with various ends in view" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 48,).
2:25. Here we can see how man and his body were totally in harmony, as were man and woman; this harmony will be broken due to the sin the narrative goes on to report.
*********************************************************************************************
From: Mark 7:24-30
The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman
-------------------------------------------------------------
[24] And from there he (Jesus) arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. [25] But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
24. The region of Tyre and Sidon is nowadays the southern part of Lebanon -- Phoenicia in ancient times. The distance from the lake of Gennesaret to the frontier of Tyre and Sidon is not more than 50 kms (30 miles). Jesus withdrew from Palestine to avoid persecution by the Jewish authorities and to give the Apostles more intensive training.
27. Our Lord actually uses the diminutive--"little dogs" to refer to the Gentiles -- thereby softening a scornful expression which Jews used. On the episode of the Canaanite woman cf. notes on parallel passages, Mt 15:21-28.
[The notes on Mt 15:21-28 states:
21-22. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its north-eastern border. In Jesus' time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles.
Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a "Canaanite"; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a "Syrophoenician" (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13).
The Canaanite woman's prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David)--which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: "Have mercy on me." Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.
24. What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46).
25-28. This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the woman's faith that she deserves exceptional praise: "Great is your faith!" Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: "Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 101).]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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