A reading of the holy Gospel according to Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;often he falls into fire, and often into water.I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”Jesus said in reply,“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.”Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,and from that hour the boy was cured.Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,“Why could we not drive it out?”He said to them, “Because of your little faith.Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,you will say to this mountain,‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you.”
REFLECTION
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely"
Jesus and the apostles ascended to the mountain to pray. Now that they have descended, the worries of the world and humanity are awaiting them.
Sometimes when I am at Church, adoration, or merely reading a good religious book or praying, I am interrupted by phone calls, needs of my family, friends, and duties around the house. It is precisely this time spent in prayer that prepares one to serve our neighbor's needs.
We are made to pray and work. As we become closer to God we have a more joyous surrender to do His will. Perhaps our encounters are as with the man and his lunatic son-a sick child, a painful illness of our own or someone we love dearly, financial ruin or physical encumbrances. Or maybe time related problems arise such as a pipe breaking, plants dying, disaster in the cooking of our meal, an annoying person, spiritual dryness or a dear friend needing more time.
God prepares us for these big or small mortifications, big or small sacrifices or humiliations. He is asking us for our love and offering our sorrows for our sins and the purification of our souls. Moses told the people to not forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt and out of slavery. We are to therefore, love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and with all our souls and with all our strength and to follow His will in thanksgiving for all He has given us.
Praying that our day to day ways to love the Lord, whether a large problem, small problem or trivial or ordinary, be filled with no complaints, no bitterness but to use for reparation of our sins and the sins of others. Pray for one another.
Comments