Do any of you have a dog? I once had a dog named Mac. When we were at home, Mac was usually in the house. When we sat down at the table to eat, Mac would take his place and sit quietly beside my son's chair. Can you guess why he always sat beside my son? He knew that our son was the most likely person at the table to drop some tasty bit of food on the floor, and when he did, Mac was right there to clean it up

There was another reason why Mac always sat patiently beside my son's chair. You see, my son loved Mac very much, and he always made certain that when he finished eating, he always left something on his plate for Mac to clean up. Even though the dinner was not prepared especially for Mac, it sure did not keep him from enjoying it.

When Jesus came to earth, he came to preach and teach first to the Jews. That does not mean that He didn't love the other people of the world, but the first priority in his ministry on earth was to bring God's chosen ones to repentance.

When other people saw Jesus healing the sick and lame, they followed him wherever he went. One day there was a woman from Canaan who came to Jesus and asked him to heal her daughter. Jesus explained to the woman that his first mission on earth was to preach to the people of Israel.

The woman refused to give up. She came closer, knelt down, and begged, "Please help me, Lord!"

Jesus replied, "It isn't right to take food away from children and feed it to dogs."

The woman answered Jesus and said, "Lord, that's true, but even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner's table."

Jesus was so touched by the faith of that woman that he told her that because of her faith, her daughter would be healed.

Even though Jesus came first to the Jew, he loved us so much that he shared his love with all of us. I guess I am a little bit like my dog Mac -- even though the meal was not prepared especially for me, it doesn't keep me from enjoying it.  I will gladly sit at my Master's feet and thankfully receive whatever crumbs might fall from the table.

Dear Father, thank you for loving us so much that you shared your son with the whole world, so that through him we could be saved. Amen.