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Gospel: Mark 9:14-29
As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other 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 the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s a saying among priests, “You either say the Mass… or pray the Mass.”
I’m sure all of you have seen the difference. Sometimes Catholics leave church feeling exhausted. Maybe the sermon was out of touch, accusatory, or flat. Maybe the priest rushed through the prayers.
Other times, we leave feeling inspired or comforted.
At least part of the difference lies in that distinction – whether we “say” the Mass or “pray” the Mass.
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At the moment of ordination, every priest is given the same unique, divine gift: the opportunity to act in the name of Christ – to forgive sins, to celebrate Eucharist, to baptize, bless, and bury.
But these gifts only remain attractive, and in a human sense, “effective,” when the priest stays close to the source of his ministry: Jesus Christ.
In other words, he must pray.
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We see the difference this makes in today’s Gospel.
The disciples have just returned from healing the sick and casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Yet now they’re confronted with a boy who suffers from an unclean spirit and they cannot cast it out.
“Why?” they ask Jesus.
“This kind can only come out through prayer.”
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Herein lies a lesson for all of us: God has given each of us unique gifts and talents.
While they may be exercised to some degree of success on our own, they are set on fire – in a holy sense – when we give them back to God.
Spend a moment in prayer today. Allow the Spirit to ignite all that is good in you. Just like “saying” the Mass versus “praying” the Mass, you will notice the difference.
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Image credits: (1) Georgia Bulletin (2) Transfiguration, Raphael (3) Denver Catholic
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