Gospel: Mark 9:14-29

 

Coming down from the mountain of the Transfiguration, Jesus met many people around the disciples. A parent was in despair, because an evil spirit had taken possession of his son. With great detail, Mark describes the situation of the possessed boy, the anguish of the father, the incapacity of the disciples and the reaction of Jesus. Two things strike us in a particular way: on one side, the confusion and the powerlessness of the people and of the disciples in the face of the phenomenon of possession, and on the other hand, the power of faith in Jesus before which the devil loses all his influence. 

 

The father asked: “If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us!” The phrase of the father expresses a very real situation of the people: they are faithless; they are not in a condition to solve the problem, but  have such good will.

 

The father answers: Lord, I believe! But help my lack of faith! The response of the father has the central place in this episode. It indicates that this should be the attitude of the disciple. 

 

In the house, the disciples want to know why they were not able to drive out the devil. Jesus answers: This is the kind of evil spirit that can be driven out only by prayer! Faith and prayer go together. One does not exist without the other. These are questions which come from the text and enter into our head in a way that we can proceed also to a kind of revision of our life.