Mark 7:24-30
From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Reflection
Men and women did not speak in public if they were not related. As a person from another in-group, Jesus should have ignored her. He certainly should not have engaged in a public debate with her. But Jesus engaged with her and debated with her–in public.
Public debates in that century included very powerful language. Jesus challenged her with the comments about dogs. He compared her and her people with dogs–the equivalent of rats. And he debated with her in front of other people!
Her answer challenged him and the whole community to confront how they saw people of her culture–as being excluded from full humanity. She won the debate, and Jesus was not angry. He was not concerned about his status. He offered healing from the Creator for her daughter.