Reflection on the Gospel of the Saturday In The Eighteenth Week In Ordinary Time
Matthew 17:14-20
Jesus during his ministry appointed 12 to be apostles and gave them authority to cure sickness, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and proclaim the good news. Accordingly the disciples went around and healed people suffering from different illness. At one such instance the disciples were unable to cast out a demon from a boy, and the boy was brought to Jesus by his father. Jesus pointed to his disciples that they lacked faith, then he rebuked the demon and cast him out and immediately the demon came out of that boy. In private disciples were asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out that demon and Jesus answered saying cause was the their little faith and he taught them the secret to cast out such types of demons is through prayer and fasting.
Jesus here emphasised the importance of faith, even if it little like a mustard. Even faith as tiny as a mustard seed can move a mountain, which means some times we think certain problems remain with us and we think it is our fate to have them, and we let them pile up like a mountain in our lives. We do not want to touch or move them from our lives making them big mountain size problems. Worries, anxiety, doubt and fear can be moved away from our lives if we have a little faith. If you want miracles to happen in your life then put your hands into Jesus’ and talk (prayer) to Him. Show your desire to him by fasting. Slowly and surely you will get to know Jesus and see his presence working in your life. You will start to trust, then believe in Jesus’ as being good, which in turn will give you faith, faith that will change your life. At the age of 13 I lost my mother, and my relatives commented that she had a short life span in this world because that was her fate and and according to them we cannot change our fate. Soon I too fell sick and was hospitalised and my condition was very critical, everybody expected me also to die. But my experience of Jesus helped me have faith in Jesus. Though I did not know what was in my future, I knew Jesus was the Master of my future and since I believed in Jesus, the fate of death that everyone thought was for me changed to that of life. Since that grace filled recovery from my death bed to good health, till date I have had no health issues. So too it is with those who put their trust in Jesus, there is never a turning back, we may fall time and again, but never in the same way, because Jesus is changing us each and everyday for the better. It is like saying a cook must make mistakes with his recipes, flavours and ingredients, daily, to improve. Without the lesson of his mistakes, he will never become a master cook.
Friends, whatever your problems and worries, simply engage Jesus in a conversation and tell him what is on your mind, what are your expectations of the moment and your fears. Make this a habit. The confidence you eventually will have is called faith. And you will see the miracles in your life like the miracle of life/good health, I saw in my own life. When we fall sick we go to the doctor and as per our condition the doctor gives either a heavy dose of medicine or a normal one, with instructions to follow the prescription. Similarly, when we face challenges in our life, we need to increase our prayer dose, this will get rid of all your worries from you. Lets acquire this faith in Jesus, and let us move mountain size challenges from our lives and also for others.
