August 12, 2017 Saturday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Dt 6: 4-13
Gospel: Mt 17:14–20
A man approached Jesus, knelt before him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son who is an epileptic and is in a wretched state. He has often fallen into the fire and at other times into the water. I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him.”Jesus replied, “You, faithless and evil people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed.
The disciples then gathered around Jesus and asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive out the spirit?” Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you: if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible to you.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel story introduces the child to Jesus as an epileptic. It turns out he is actually possessed by an evil spirit. “Why couldn’t we drive out the spirit?” Jesus’ disciples ask. In reply Jesus says, “Because you have little faith.” So it is possible to follow Jesus and remain shallow in faith! As it was possible for the disciples who had the historical Jesus with them, so it is possible for us who follow Jesus mediated in signs and symbols such as the Sacraments. As a people we have been Christianized for more than four hundred years. Is our faith profound? An affirmative answer will appear insincere in the light of some serious moral issues.
Consider the problem of corruption. It has been there. What is alarming is that constituents no longer take offense at corruption even as public officials rob them openly of their hard-earned money. In utter surrender someone is proposing that we just have to level off the opportunity for corruption for everybody. Like the Apostles in today’s Gospel story who gave up on the boy from whom they could not drive the devil away, this person has given up all hopes. To him, exorcising this country of the evils of corruption is no longer possible. So he proposes that we should just choose the “lesser evil” by giving everybody the equal opportunity to pilfer. This scheme pleases the devil for sure. But will God meet him halfway?
Compromising with the devil is a badge of an ailing faith beyond cavil. We may not be talking here about an ordinary social illness as the disciples thought the girl brought to them was just suffering epilepsy. If compromising with the devil is now the trend, then our faith must already be dead. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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