The daily Word of God
Thursday, February 12th, 2026
Thursday in the 5ᵗʰ Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 7:24-30 "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps."
First Reading: 1 Kings 11:4-13
When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods,
and his heart was not entirely with the Lord, his God,
as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord;
he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,
and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The Lord, therefore, became angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
(for though the Lord had forbidden him
this very act of following strange gods,
Solomon had not obeyed him).
So the Lord said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father David;
it is your son whom I will deprive.
Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 and 40
R./ Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
R./ Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
R./ Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the Lord grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R./ Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Gospel Introduction
Despised pagans too, are offered salvation. The doctors of the Law had called the region where Jesus worked this miracle, a region of dogs. God lifts up the lowly who believe. Grace is no exclusive privilege for God's people. The kingdom is also for pagans.
Gospel Reading: Mark 7:24-30
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.
Crossed Hearts… Abundance and Crumbs
Who really comes out on top in today’s two stories?
On one hand, we have Solomon. He had God’s favor. He had asked for wisdom, and God gave it to him. He had riches, a royal court, and everything a person could ever want. And yet, those very riches were pulling him away from God, who should have been his only true treasure.
On the other hand, we have a woman who is driven by crumbs falling on the floor… and those crumbs push her heart closer to God. Paradoxically, she didn’t have “God’s favor”—or at least, she wasn’t supposed to, being a foreigner.
When we look at these two readings together, it seems that wealth creates distance, while crumbs draw us near. We aren’t just talking about money or food here; we are talking about the attitude of the heart. It is a contrast between self-sufficiency and the humility of recognizing who we really are.
Self-sufficiency leads us to believe we can do it all on our own, without needing the one true God. But look at the woman. Jesus tells her, “Great is your faith,” after an ironic conversation meant to show His disciples that salvation is for all people. Jesus presents her with a challenge, and she responds with the truth.
Centuries later, Saint Teresa of Avila would say: “Humility is truth.” The woman isn’t intimidated because she sharply understands what Jesus is doing. She has the strength and boldness of real faith. Solomon might have argued that he was the King, that he had a right to everything. The woman, however, only claims the “right” of the little puppies under their master’s table. It is a beautiful declaration: she recognizes the Lord’s power and her own dependence on Him.
Solomon let his heart drift away, clinging to his wealth and status. As a result, he lost his true identity. The woman, however, let her heart cling to the only thing that matters—knowing that a single crumb of God is greater than all the riches in the world. In doing so, she received a new identity as part of God’s People. She was welcomed and recognized.
Solomon, to whom so much wisdom had been given, ended up entering the kingdom of fools.
Cármen Fernández AguinacoOpening Prayer
Father of all,
long ago you chose the people of Israel
to make your name known to all nations.
Your Son Jesus Christ, made it clear
that forgiveness and life are the share
of all who believe in him.
Make your Church truly a place of encounter
for all those who grope for you,
that all obstacles and barriers may be removed
and that the riches of all nations and cultures
may reveal the thousand faces of the love you show us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
Chosen by God, builder of the Temple, endowed with wisdom, at the height of power and riches, Solomon abandoned God and his covenant. The sacred writer seems to wonder how so great a man could have fallen so low. God's grace, if not used, gives no security.
General Intercessions
– That there may be room in the universal Church for the cultural riches of various peoples and for their manifesting the same faith in a variety of languages and forms of expression, we pray:
– That we may open our homes and hearts to those who differ in many ways from us, that we may do all we can to integrate them into the human and Christian community, we pray:
– That all of us may be concerned about those who are not here because they are estranged from the Church, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father,
you set the table of your Son
for all who are willing to come:
for saints and for sinners, for the poor and the rich.
May we learn from your Son, Jesus Christ,
to give to all those who ask for food or love
not meager crumbs or leftovers,
but the food of ourselves,
as Jesus does here for us,
he who is your Son and our Lord for ever.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
in this Eucharist we have all been one
in Jesus Christ, your Son.
He died and rose to life for all;
his likeness is reflected
in the face of every human being.
May it become visible in all.
Let his face not be marred or divided
by our prejudices and fears;
do not allow your love to be less than universal,
but unite us all in him
who is our common way to you and to one another,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
May there be room in this house, that is, in our Christian communities, for all people, whatever their race or social class, their culture or education. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
