Jesus saves a woman’s daughter after a great show of faith in Him!

Gospel Reflection for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel, a Canaanite woman speaks to Jesus and says, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is tormented by a demon.”  When Jesus did not reply, the woman said, “Lord, help me.”  Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs.”  The woman said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their master.”

Jesus is not being mean to the woman.  He knows she has faith in Him, but He is testing her faith.  It would be easy to trust Jesus if we knew He was going to answer all of our prayers all of the time.  When our faith is tested, our faith grows stronger.  Jesus answers the woman’s prayer because He saw her faith was strong and that she was humble.