How Not to Read the Story of the Syrophoenician Woman

2026-08-11 · 16 min · episode 497 · 8 entities

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mentioned Christianity concept

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mentioned Spirituality concept

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discusses Religion & Spirituality concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
discusses Christianity concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Christianity
discusses Spirituality concept

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Feed category: Spirituality

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hosted by Bishop Robert Barron person

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Episode description as stored

Friends, for this Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear the story of the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus famously puts off this woman—first by ignoring her, then by dismissing her, and finally by insulting her—and she offers one of the most famous comebacks in literary history. A common reading of this story is that Jesus is cranky from a tough day of ministry, and a plucky woman from Syrophoenicia straightens him out. But this turns Jesus into a sinner—and the whole structure of Christianity falls apart. The Church Fathers had a much better, more convincing, and spiritually more helpful interpretation.