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| “The Syrophoenician Woman” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Reading 1: Genesis 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.
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Commentary on Gn
2:18-25
We continue the Yahwehest
creation account with the creation of life. It is important to note, early near
eastern peoples felt that the individual who named a person or thing, had
dominion over it. Here we see man naming all the animals in God’s creation
thereby having dominion over them.
The passage concludes with
God’s creation of woman as the perfect companion for man. He does so by taking
a rib (thus also explaining why there is a “spare rib”). This passage will be
familiar to those who attend weddings as it is one of the texts frequently used
because of verse 24: “That is why a man leaves
his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one
flesh.”
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
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Commentary on Ps
128:1-2, 3, 4-5
Psalm 128 is a song of
thanksgiving. It begins here with the typical blessings for following and
having faith in the Lord. This selection features the blessing a family brings
to the faithful using the symbolism of vines and olives so favored by even the
Lord.
It also supports the creation of
woman and the marriage theme in Genesis 2:18-25. It is the
logical extension of the two becoming one flesh and the children flowing from
that union.
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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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Commentary on Mk
7:24-30
In this selection Jesus has
withdrawn from Palestine
The exchange recorded in St.
Mark’s Gospel is intended to describe the universal nature of the messianic
mission. Within the dialogue we see
Jesus first refuse to accede to the woman’s request (even though she recognized
his authority “She came and fell at his
feet.”). This same pattern of refusal and then
acquiescence is found in St. John’s
The metaphor being exchanged
in this banter refers to the “children” being the Hebrews and the “dogs” a reference
to the Gentiles (frequently referred to as such by Hebrews of the day). While this seems out of character for the
Lord, our translation leaves out some conversational nuances that soften the
dialogue. The word translated as “dogs”
in this translation could be more accurately expressed as “pups”. It is also significant that the children and
pups are eating at the same table, again expressing the universal nature of the
mission of the Messiah.
As in other instances in St.
Mark’s Gospel when the Jesus cures a Gentile, he does so from a distance. “When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and
the demon gone.”
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Homily:
In spite of the way the
exchange between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman sounds, the message given
is actually one of unity. We hear Jesus
refuse the woman who has come to him.
She caught him at a very bad time.
He had just traveled to Tyre , he needed a
rest, time away from the confrontations with the Pharisees in Palestine
Jesus is true man as well as
true God. He became tired just as we do
and curing the sick and casting out demons took much effort on his part. So he declines. He has not been as successful with the
Children of Israel as he had hoped. The
gospel he brought had not been well received in his native land and here comes
this gentile woman making claims on that message of salvation.
Jesus uses a slang expression
but softens it. In scripture we here the
world used was “dogs”, however, the Aramaic expression would have been more
like pups. The woman persists and uses
the metaphor to her own advantage and the Lord expels the unclean spirit from
her daughter.
The message that is clear
from this encounter is that Jesus brought the message to everyone, not just a
select few. And his call to us is to
take up that message and pass it on to others. We find that difficult to do at
times. We even find it difficult to
express that message to others who are tasked with sharing the same message,
our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This then is what the Gospel
calls us to do on this day – to bring the message of God’s love to those we
meet. To express it in words and actions
in a way that cannot be misunderstood.
In this way we respond to the Lord as he responds to us – in love and
understanding.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used is “The Syrophoenician Woman” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[3]
The readings are taken from the New
American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were
developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by
USCCB and is for private use only.
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