Good morning. In today’s Gospel, Jesus said something important that is meant to help us grow spiritually and strengthen our faith. His disciples asked him: “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” Our Lord said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.” Prayer is how we talk with God. Through prayer, we grow in our relationship with God who loves us, forgives us, and pours forth His mercy on us. Knowing that we are loved and forgiven by God frees us to become who God created us to be and helps us to overcome temptations and sin, not by our own power but by the grace of God. Through prayer, God helps us focus on growing in holiness and striving for saintliness in our lives; therefore, the important lesson for us to learn here is to pray, pray, and pray.
Recall that Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits” (Mark 6:7). And so, Jesus had given his disciples the authority to drive our demons. They “went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (6:12-13). And so they have done it before with success; however, they could not drive the spirit out this time. What changed? Jesus’ response to them, when they asked him why they could not drive the spirit out, seems to suggest that the disciples were relying on themselves, their own power and strength, rather than on the authority that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer.
What does this mean for us? We cannot overcome temptations and sins by ourselves because Satan is too strong for us. The Good News is, our Lord Jesus Christ went into the desert for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil and, not only did he overcome Satan, but he would later conquer death in his Resurrection. Therefore, we need to turn to our Lord in prayer and invoke his Most Holy Name if we want to break the chains of sin and temptations and the cycles of addiction that bind us in our lives. By ourselves, our minds tell us that we cannot; however, Jesus tells us that “everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent is in one and a half weeks. Let us make a plan now for how we can grow in our faith through the Lenten observances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If we are struggling with our faith in God, then what the boy’s father in today’s Gospel said is a wonderful prayer: “Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief.”
Gospel of the Day (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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