REFLECTIONS TODAY
Jesus has barely descended Mount Tabor when people seek His help. What a marked contrast between the glory of God witnessed by Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor and the human confusion and suffering that meet them on the plain. The nine Apostles have failed miserably in their attempt to heal a boy suffering from epilepsy. The boy’s father reports this failed attempt as he seeks Jesus for healing.
Jesus laments the lack of faith on the part of the Apostles. It takes faith but the size of a mustard seed, He says, to move mountains. If faith is genuine, what we think is impossible can come true. One example is the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, a long-time symbol of division of Europe and even of the world into East and West. Division often happens in our families, parishes, workplaces, and communities. If we keep faith in God and let his Spirit work among us, reconciliation and healing will come.
With humility, we ask God to strengthen our faith so that God’s plans for us may be fulfilled.
Gospel • MATTHEW 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before Him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to Me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.