Gospel: Mark
9:14-29
As Jesus came
down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and approached the other
disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to
him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son
possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he
foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples
to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O
faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?
Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit
immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to
the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned
his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since
childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if
you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s
father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd
rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf
spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and
throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which
caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him,
and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only
come out through prayer.”
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Reflection:
Is it
possible for the disciples to lack faith? Yes, even if they were always with
Jesus it was very possible for them to lack faith. Perhaps because they were
with Jesus everyday it became ordinary for them already that they treated Jesus
as one of them. Their extraordinary discipleship with Jesus became ordinary for
them.
That’s why
they did not have anymore that strong faith and add to this was their lack of
prayerful life. The end result of their lack of faith and prayer was their
failure to drive out the bad spirit from the boy. Therefore, Jesus admonished
them to strengthen their faith and give more fire to their prayer life.
Why are there
marriage failures? It’s because both spouses often times forget to have faith
on the sacredness of their marriage. By being together everyday they become
very familiar with each other. That their treatment with each other becomes
ordinary. There’s no more fervent unifying prayer life in their marriage
thus their marriage becomes the casualty.
Let us take
personally the admonishment of Jesus to the disciples to have faith and to have
a more blazing prayer life. Let us take it as an advice also for us to have a
more prayerful life inside our married life.
If only we would
invest more prayer in our respective marriages. Perhaps, there would be no more
failures in marriage. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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