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.
(Mark 7:24-30)
In St. Matthew’s version of the same event after a dialogue going back and forth where Jesus is not revealing that He wants to help her (because in reality, of course he does):
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
(Matthew 15:25-28)
For background context showing that normally Jesus is quick to defend those who are rejected or disliked:
Our Lord’s followers might have defended him by pointing out his kindness to non-Jews, the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, the Roman centurion whose faith he praised, prostitutes and tax collectors, and the woman who was unclean who grabbed hold of the edge of his garment. They might mention the parable of the Good Samaritan or his mercy to those outside the law.
Fr. Hugh Barbour – Catholic.com
But some might find these passages from Mark and Matthew troubling or confusing, because of the way Jesus treats the Greek woman. Here are a few explanations to help understand His words to her and why He does not show His desire to help right away:
The Syrophoenician woman in Matthew Chapter 15 who has a daughter who’s grievously vexed with a demon, comes to Jesus, “Please heal my daughter.” Jesus answers her, not a word, he just keeps walking. She cries all the more after him. Now I’m skipping some parts here for for time’s sake. She cries all the more after him. And then this time he says, “I’m not come but for the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” He apparently, or it appears, rejects her a second time. “I’m not coming for you.” And she’s crying, “But, but,” and then he keeps walking and she cries out all the more. And what does Jesus… I mean, you think, all right, third time he’s going to say, “I’m so sorry.” But she cries out all the more and this time He says, “It’s not right to take the food from the children and give it to dogs.” Now he calls her a dog and what does she do?
She acknowledges that. She says, “Yes, Lord.”
“Your daughter is healed. Great is your faith.” And her daughter was healed from that moment. Now, of course, Jesus wanted to heal her and heal her daughter from the start. But the bottom line is he is eliciting, through these radical statements, absolute surrender.
Tim Staples – Catholic.com
On the right attitude towards God and the approach to those in need:
There is a long tradition that stresses the woman’s perseverance in the face of the “test” that Jesus sets for her. There is another reading that shows how the woman exemplifies the proper attitude toward God, a combination of humility and boldness, of deference and defiance.
…We the Church are the Body of Christ, the physical presence of Christ in the world. And so people come to us demanding food, sustenance, friendship, love, shelter, liberation. So often we are tempted to do what Jesus does initially and what the disciples do: tell them to back off.
But the whole of the Christian life consists in remembering the suffering and need of the annoying other.
Bishop Barron – DailyCatholicGospel.com from Word on Fire (Feb 11, 2021)
We know that Jesus is a healer and loves every one of us, but we discover a powerful message in these readings about our place relative to God and our need to surrender to Him. By surrendering to God, we allow ourselves to belong to Him so that He can also belong to us.
As we have learned from the Old Testament. God is working through the Jews to save the entire world. The answer Jesus gives the woman seems harsh but it relates to how the Jewish people were being taken care from God first in order to help everyone.
The original Greek word for dogs has the meaning of puppies or beloved pets. Children (Jews) first, and dogs aka beloved pets (everyone else including this woman) are next.
The Greek woman is so humble and shows her faith. We are like this woman. We should always approach God without any sense of entitlement but should be persistent since we know God loves us.