MONDAY, 20-5-2013  7TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 

Sirach 1:1-10/ Mark 9: 14-29

For those of us who are Catholics, the celebration of the feast of Pentecost today, brings us to the end of Easter season and ushers us into the ordinary time of the year. Our gospel reading today is remarkable for its length and vivid details as the Jerome Biblical Commentary states. We see in the gospel reading the inability of the disciples to heal the possessed boy, as well as the father's profession of faith.
The disciples are like apprentice of our lord Jesus Christ. And as it is very typical of apprentices after having learnt from the master to feel they are ripe for freedom, the disciples too having learnt from Christ feels that they can now operate on their own. However, with time the need to return back to the master pops up. This become clear, even painfully clear when they come face to face with life difficulties and challenges. The disciples in our gospel reading today were faced with a situation that seems to be beyond their powers. They even went as low as arguing with some scribes on the issue before the arrival of their master. Christ's intervention on the issue was rather scorching for his disciples. 'you faithless people. How long must i be with you?' The inability of the disciples to heal the boy was explained in reference to their reliance on God's power alone. But, Faith is also required for the manifestation of God's power in our lives. We therefore, need to accompany our reliance on God with faith. Faith occupies an integral part of God's healing, blessings, and favors in our lives. Put differently, to enjoy God's benevolence, we need to have a substantial amount of faith that God is able. In that bible passage, Christ says "all things are possible for one who believes'. We should therefore join our voices with that of the possessed boy's father in the gospel and pray; O lord I believe help my little faith.
After the whole event, the disciples asked their master, why could we not drive out the spirit? and he answered "only prayer can drive out this kind nothing else" Prayer therefore becomes the only tool by which we too can overcome our faithlessness and troubles. Reliance on God's power my dear friends, must therefore be symbolized by prayer. With prayer, we too will gain the wisdom of the master and be able to operate in the same ways he did. It is only when we have done this that he will convey his wisdom to us as the first reading puts it. "All wisdom comes from the lord and endures with him forever." May the good Lord help our unbelief through Christ our lord. Amen