A Canaanite mother refuses to be brushed off, takes an apparent insult and turns it into the boldest prayer in the Gospels: even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.

Jesus' verdict on her is the one every parent praying for a child wants to hear: woman, you have great faith. Today rewards the persistent. Come stubborn.

The Canaanite woman had no covenant credentials, no appointment, and, on the surface, no encouragement, silence, then a rebuff, then a proverb about dogs. She kept kneeling. Lord, help me. And Jesus, who had been drawing her faith out rather than shutting her out, crowned her in front of everyone: great is your faith.

Jacob's clan entered Egypt as shepherd outsiders, detestable to Egyptians, and would leave a nation; the psalm says God's glory-speech reaches the ends of the world. The pattern holds: the table has always been bigger than the gatekeepers guessed. Pray like the mother from Tyre, persistent, humble, and certain the Master's table has bread for you.