I DO BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF!

Jam 3,13-18; Ps 18; Mk 9,14-29
21 MAY
Faith is believing that the Word of God is the only one on which we can build our present and future of true life. One believes in the truth of the Word and obeys the Word of truth. In the faith that becomes obedience is life. All temptations want to separate us from the truth of the Word of God, to seduce us so that we obey the word not of God, which is always of lie, falsehood and necessarily of death. The Word of God does not only say what we must do, it also reveals what God is doing for us and what he can do. For the Word we know that He is the Omnipotent. It is one of the first truths that God has revealed about himself. An approach to Genesis is enough and one will notice that every promise is founded by God on his omnipotence. In the remaining Pentateuch the word recurs only three times. Here is who the Lord is: “I am God Almighty”.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said: “I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless (Gen 17, 1). May God Almighty bless you and make you fertile, multiply you that you may become an assembly of peoples (Gen 28, 3). God also said to him: “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, shall stem from you, and kings shall issue from your loins (Gen 35, 11). May God Almighty dispose the man to be merciful toward you, so that he may let your other brother go, as well as Benjamin. As for me, if I am to suffer bereavement, I shall suffer it” (Gen 43, 14).  Jacob then said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessing me (Gen 48, 3). The God of your father, who helps you, God Almighty, who blesses you, With the blessings of the heavens above, the blessings of the abyss that crouches below(Gen 49, 25).

The Father has given Christ Jesus all power on earth and in the heavens. Christ Jesus gave some of his powers to the disciples, including that of expelling impure spirits. Being the power conferred with the Word, the disciples can only exercise it in faith. It does not act by magic or by pure command. All the powers of Christ, outside the celebration of the sacraments, demand faith in the Word. Faith, being a virtue, must necessarily grow. It will grow with incessant prayer elevated to God so that he makes it increasingly stronger in us. The disciples still do not know the mechanisms and the secrets of the spiritual life and for this they cannot drive the impure spirit away.

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, ” ‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

The father, who asks for his son’s recovery, came with much faith. But the disciples disappointed him. He believes that Christ is superior to everyone else. But he needs to be sustained, helped and supported in this faith. Little faith is for him as if it were unbelief. In fact, the faith of the disciples proved to be unbelief. He does not want to be incredulous. He wants to believe very firmly that his son will recover. How might Jesus help his unbelief? Testifying to him the truth of his omnipotence.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints, help us to witness to the faith.