Reflection for Monday, February 25; Seventh Week in Ordinary Time; Mark 9:14-29

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