20200224 DELIVERING OUR
DEMONS WITH FAITH AND PRAYERS
24 February,
2020, Monday, 7th Week of Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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James 3:13-18 ©
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Show wisdom and avoid ambition
If there are any wise or
learned men among you, let them show it by their good lives, with humility and
wisdom in their actions. But if at heart you have the bitterness of jealousy,
or a self-seeking ambition, never make any claims for yourself or cover up the
truth with lies – principles of this kind are not the wisdom that comes
down from above: they are only earthly, animal and devilish. Wherever you find
jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind
being done; whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially
something pure; it also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is
full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of
partiality or hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the
seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
18(19):8-10,15 ©
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The precepts of
the Lord gladden the heart.
The law of the
Lord is perfect,
it
revives the soul.
The rule of the
Lord is to be trusted,
it
gives wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of
the Lord gladden the heart.
The precepts of
the Lord are right,
they
gladden the heart.
The command of
the Lord is clear,
it
gives light to the eyes.
The precepts of
the Lord gladden the heart.
The fear of the
Lord is holy,
abiding
for ever.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth
and
all of them just.
The precepts of
the Lord gladden the heart.
May the spoken
words of my mouth,
the
thoughts of my heart,
win favour in
your sight, O Lord,
my
rescuer, my rock!
The precepts of
the Lord gladden the heart.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1P1:25
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The word of the
Lord remains for ever:
What is this
word?
It is the Good
News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus
Christ abolished death
and he has
proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 9:14-29 ©
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Help the little faith I have!
When Jesus, with Peter,
James and John came down from the mountain and rejoined the disciples, they saw
a large crowd round them and some scribes arguing with them. The moment they
saw him the whole crowd were struck with amazement and ran to greet him. ‘What
are you arguing about with them?’ he asked. A man answered him from the crowd,
‘Master, I have brought my son to you; there is a spirit of dumbness in him,
and when it takes hold of him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the
mouth and grinds his teeth and goes rigid. And I asked your disciples to cast
it out and they were unable to.’ ‘You faithless generation’ he said to them in
reply. ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with
you? Bring him to me.’ They brought the boy to him, and as soon as the spirit
saw Jesus it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell to the ground and lay
writhing there, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has
this been happening to him?’ ‘From childhood,’ he replied ‘and it has often
thrown him into the fire and into the water, in order to destroy him. But if
you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ ‘If you can?’ retorted
Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for anyone who has faith.’ Immediately the
father of the boy cried out, ‘I do have faith. Help the little faith I have!’
And when Jesus saw how many people were pressing round him, he rebuked the
unclean spirit. ‘Deaf and dumb spirit,’ he said ‘I command you: come out of him
and never enter him again.’ Then throwing the boy into violent convulsions it
came out shouting, and the boy lay there so like a corpse that most of them
said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him up, and he
was able to stand. When he had gone indoors his disciples asked him privately,
‘Why were we unable to cast it out?’ ‘This is the kind’ he answered ‘that can
only be driven out by prayer.’
DELIVERING OUR DEMONS WITH FAITH AND PRAYERS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [JMS 3:13-18; PS 19:8-10, 15; MK 9:14-29 ]
We all have our demons in us, as St James
tells us. Our
hearts are full of bitterness, jealousy, and self-seeking ambition resulting in
lies, cover-ups, wicked deeds and living animal and devilish lives. Such
a life goes against our desire, that is, a life of peace. St James wrote,
“Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony, and wicked
things of every kind being done.” Such a life cannot give us true
happiness. Rather, we are called to live a life of true wisdom and
not be foolish like the world. St James wrote, “Whereas the wisdom that
comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace,
and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by
doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it.
Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in
holiness.”
Hence, we must be delivered from our
demons. What does it take for us to be rid of our demons? In the gospel, we read of the incident
when Jesus was asked to help to deliver a boy suffering from epilepsy because
of a demon in him. The disciples could not cast out the devil and the
father was desperate and turned to Jesus for help. “Master, I have
brought my son to you; there is a spirit of dumbness in him, and when it takes
hold of him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds
his teeth and goes rigid. And I asked your disciples to cast it out and
they were unable to.”
Jesus sighed and said, “You faithless
generation. How much
longer do I have to be with you? How much longer do I have to put up with
you? Bring him to me.” We need to have faith. Indeed, both
the disciples and the father lacked faith in the power of God to
intervene. After giving the history of the boy’s sickness, the father
concluded by saying, “But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help
us.” The father’s faith, like that of the disciples, was still
imperfect. He lacked confidence in God’s mercy and power to heal.
The swift reply of Jesus was, “If you can? Everything is possible for anyone
who has faith.”
So faith is a pre-requisite for the grace
of God to heal us. Why
is this so? Faith means that we are receptive to His healing grace.
Those without faith close their hearts and ears. God’s grace cannot be
received by skeptical hearts. Jesus exhorts us, “So I tell you, whatever
you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be
yours.” (Mk 11:24) Not only
that, Jesus promised His disciples that if they had faith and were in union
with Him, they would share in His powers as well. “I tell you, the one
who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do
greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” (Jn 14:12)
How do we find faith? We need to
encounter the glory of God. The apostles, Peter, James and John, had the
opportunity to see the glory of Jesus before their eyes. Although it took time
for them to fully grasp what this Transfiguration Event was all about, it
became a turning point in their lives, especially in the light of Jesus’ death
and resurrection. Later on, St Peter who became more mature in faith
wrote, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his
majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice
was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved,
with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven,
while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message
more fully confirmed.” (2 Pt 1:16-19) Only then can we find
confidence in Him. This is true for those who have witnessed the power of
God in healing services or when they ministered to others, humbly seeing how
God used them powerfully in the ministry or in their daily life.
Secondly, we need the help of others to
strengthen our faith. It
is important to realize that we can either weaken the faith of others or
strengthen the faith of others. We can edify or scandalize.
The disciples, by their lack of faith, scandalized the father and made him lose
faith in God as well. Indeed, if our young people today grow up without
faith, it is simply because their parents lack faith in God. They are
just nominal Catholics. They do not know what the Church is
teaching. They have no real personal encounter with Christ. Their
prayer life is ritualistic and superstitious. They have no real faith in
Christ. So what can we expect of their children? Faith will get
weaker from one generation to another until our future generations lose their
faith.
Thirdly, faith can grow only when we
acknowledge that our faith is weak and we need to depend on God. Fortunately, the father of the child was
humble enough to recognize that his faith was imperfect and weak. He said
to the Lord, “I do have faith. Help the little faith I have!”
Indeed, all of us are like him. We have different degrees of faith.
For some it is just cultural faith and not yet personal. For others, it
is a notional and intellectual faith without personal experience. For
others, it is an infantile faith that rests on miracles and pious
devotions. So long as we are sincere about our inadequacy in our
faith, the Lord will reach out to us and help us strengthen our faith. On
account of his weak faith, the Lord performed an exorcism, not just for the
sake of the child but for the father’s sake as well. “He rebuked the
unclean spirit. ‘Deaf and dumb spirit,’ he said, ‘I command you: come out
of him and never enter him again.’ Then throwing the boy into violent
convulsions it came out shouting, and the boy lay there so like a corpse that
most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and
helped him up, and he was able to stand.”
Fourthly, from the saga, there was a
lesson for the disciples.
“When he had gone indoors his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why were we
unable to cast it out?’ This is the kind,’ he answered ‘that can only be
driven out by prayer.'” How many of us really believe in the power of
prayer to get things done, our projects to move forward and our plans to
materialize. The truth is that Catholic leaders tend to be very involved
in activities. We have big plans and programs but we think conversion and
transformation and success is purely our hard work, not the power of God at
work in and through us. We do not really pray with all our hearts
and intercede like those who came to Jesus for help. Only sincere and
fervent prayer can move the heart of God. This is why it is important to
have intercessory prayers to pray for the success of our mission.
Indeed, we must never give up on the power
of prayer. When our
faith is weak, prayer strengthens that weak faith of ours. Faith
and prayer go together. Without faith, our prayers will fail. But
when we pray, we increase in faith since one cannot pray without faith.
Otherwise, what is the use of praying? So prayers increase our confidence
in the Lord. In prayer, we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit to work in
and through us. Indeed, Jesus could cast out the evil spirit with
authority simply because He was so filled with the presence of God at the
Mountain earlier on. Jesus’ power to heal came from His identification
with His Father, and sprung out of this Abba relationship with Him. God
wants us to pray so that we can have this same relationship with His
Father. In this way, we will never fall into despair or become too
proud to think that our achievements are from our efforts alone.
Only those who pray remain humble because they know everything is possible only
because of Him.
So prayers in the face of daunting
challenges lead us back to what St James asks of us, which is to seek for true
wisdom. A truly wise man
is one who is humble and gracious. “If there are any wise or learned men among
you, let them show it by their good lives, with humility and wisdom in their
actions.” In our helplessness, we realize that true wisdom is to rely on
God, His mercy and His love. This kind of wisdom comes from a humble heart that
seeks God in humility, trusting in His providence and bearing good fruits in
one’s life. This is how a wise man lives. Only a greater faith in
Christ will give us the motivation to follow Him and His teaching as the guide
to live a true life of wisdom. Christ is our way!
Written by The Most Rev
William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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