Mark 9:14-29

Sirach 1:1-10

Psalm 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I desire to remain in communion with you, to hear your word in prayer, and to fulfill your holy will. I believe that you have sent your Son into the world to conquer the reign of evil and the slavery of sin. I am your child and need to be healed by you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Your Disciples Were Unable: In the Gospel, three of Jesus’ twelve apostles, Peter, James, and John, have just experienced the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain. They saw the glory of Jesus’ divine nature shining through his human nature. When they came down from the mountain, they learned that the other nine apostles, who had remained at the foot of the mountain, were unable to drive out a demon from a possessed boy and were engaged in an argument with the scribes. It is possible that the scribes were challenging Jesus’ disciples and saying that Jesus’ exorcisms are demonic in nature and not divine (Mark 3:22). When Jesus asked about the argument, a man from the crowd informed Jesus that his son was possessed by a demon and that Jesus’ disciples were unable to cast out the evil spirit tormenting his son.

2. Only through Prayer: Jesus’ disciples were puzzled by their inability to cast out the demon and heal the boy. They were able to cast out demons before (Mark 6:13) when Jesus granted them the authority to do so. When they were alone with Jesus in the house in Capernaum, they asked Jesus about it. Jesus’ response was clear. The disciples need to rely not on themselves to do mighty works but on God the Father. That is why Jesus insists on the need for prayer and, as some manuscripts add, the need for fasting. This teaches the disciples the important lesson that their ministry will not bear fruit without communion with God and sacrifice.

3. The Book of Sirach: For the next week and a half, before we start the season of Lent, the First Reading will be taken from the Book of Sirach. The book was written in Hebrew around 180 B.C. by Jesus, the son of Sirach (Ben Sira), the son of Eleazar. It was then translated into Greek by Ben Sira’s grandson sometime after 132 B.C. The book reads like an anthology of wisdom texts. It is an apologetic defense of the divine wisdom of Judaism against the challenges of Hellenism, which was known for its philosophical wisdom. “Ben Sira attempts to counter the rising influence of Greek thought among Jews by insisting that true wisdom resides in the Torah given to Israel. He does this largely through the integration of sacred history into wisdom” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1069). Today, we read the opening poem of the book on the origin of wisdom: “[Wisdom] is found in God, and only God truly knows her. God alone, therefore, can bestow her upon others” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1073). The poem highlights that the realm of wisdom encompasses the whole creation, that wisdom finds her origin in God’s eternal Word, that the ways of wisdom are expressed in the eternal commandments revealed to Moses, that the root, devices, knowledge, and experience of wisdom are inaccessible to the unaided human mind, and that God is truly wise as the Creator and Ruler of all.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you can conquer all the evil in my life and sustain what is good. I know where I have failed and where I continue to struggle with temptation and sin. I trust that you will guide me and help me.

Living the Word of God: How is my life of prayer and fasting? The season of Lent begins next week, and we are exhorted to pray, to give alms, and to fast. What can I do to improve my life of prayer? What can I do to improve my almsgiving? What can I do to improve my practice of fasting?