August 9, 2014
Saturday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Hab 1:12-2:4
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)
Jesus healed the epileptic boy, but not without taking the father to task for his lack of faith. The lack of faith of the father was understandable. Probably he came to Jesus because it was the last remedy available. But the Apostles lived with Jesus. Is it possible to live with Jesus and remain lacking in faith? The answer is yes. In fact, Jesus called them “men of little faith”. Except for its parallel in Luke 12:38, the term “little faith” is found only in the Gospel of Matthew referring to followers of Jesus remaining shallow in faith.
If the Apostles who were with Jesus struggled in faith, how much more must we struggle to grow in it considering that our experience of Jesus is mediated in signs and symbols? The closest we can be with Jesus physically is at Mass. But we only see him veiled in the externalities of bread and wine. He is present at the assembly because where two or more come together in his name he is there with them. Yet it is hard to feel God’s presence when we are with imperfect people. Even our priests who embody God’s presence at the celebration of the sacraments are imperfect and some of them hardly make us feel God’s presence.
God is aware of our struggles. That is why he makes abundant grace available. But we must do our part. Unlike the father of the boy who came only to Jesus because doing so was his last resort, let us seek Jesus’ companionship more often. Should we still struggle in faith like the Apostles did even in the company of Jesus, let us hang on to the relationship. Faith itself will be the reward of that struggle.- Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website:www.frdan.org.
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