Thursday of the 5th Week of Ordinary Time
When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father was. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did that which was evil in the Lord's sight, and didn't go fully after the Lord, as David his father did. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn't keep that which the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father's sake; but I will tear it out of your son's hand. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen."
Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times. Remember me, Lord, with the favor that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation,
but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works. They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
From there he arose and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice. For a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
But she answered him, "Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
He said to her, "For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter."
She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.
What strikes me most about these readings is how they reveal the quiet ways our hearts can drift from what matters most. Solomon didn't wake up one morning and decide to abandon God. Instead, through countless small compromises—accommodating his wives' religious practices, building shrines to foreign gods—his heart gradually turned away from the Lord who had blessed him so abundantly.
We see this pattern in our own lives, don't we? We don't usually make dramatic breaks from our faith. More often, it's the slow erosion—skipping prayer when we're busy, letting work consume our Sundays, or gradually adopting values that contradict the Gospel without even noticing.
What I find beautiful in Mark's Gospel is how Jesus encounters the Syrophoenician woman who refuses to let cultural barriers or even his initial response discourage her. Her persistence reveals a deep faith that sees beyond the immediate "no" to the heart of who Jesus is. She understands that God's love, like crumbs from a table, is abundant enough to nourish everyone.
This woman reminds us that faithfulness isn't about perfection—it's about persistence. When we feel spiritually dry or distant from God, when our prayers seem to hit the ceiling, we can learn from her example. She didn't let Jesus's challenging words stop her from believing in his goodness.
Unlike Solomon, who had everything but lost sight of the source of his blessings, this foreign woman had little but recognized the treasure before her. Sometimes it's easier to stay faithful when we're hungry for God than when we're comfortable and self-sufficient.
Where in your life might small compromises be slowly turning your heart away from what you know is true? What would it look like to approach God today with the persistent faith of the Syrophoenician woman?