The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith and Love....(Mk 7:24-30)

Besides faith, today’s gospel Jesus shows us on how to be a Christian. And to be Christians is to be loving persons. These two are synonymous. I will share with you some of the characteristics of a loving person. First is unconditional love. One of the dilemmas about human love is that it is often conditional. That is, “If you do what I want you to do  or be what I want you to be, I will love you. If not, I will withdraw my love from you.” And according to an author, conditional love is not love at all. It is a means of controlling another person. On the process we are damaging the person being controlled.
But unconditional love is the only way we can love one another. This gift says simply: “I want to share with you whatever I have that is good. Somewhere in the world there may be someone who is better for you or for me. That is not the point. The point is that I have chosen to give you my gift of love and you have chosen to love me. That is the only soil in which love can grow. We’re going to make it together!”