In this story we encounter a calamity that human strength has failed to overcome. This often happens to us. What are we to do? “Bring him to Me,” says the Saviour. The Lord shows us the way when...
In this story we encounter a calamity that human strength has failed to overcome. This often happens to us. What are we to do? “Bring him to Me,” says the Saviour. The Lord shows us the way when it seems that we have exhausted every means and that nothing else can help. The disciples ask why they themselves were unable to cast out the demons. “Because you have little faith,” or “no faith,” as some manuscripts say.
This answer makes us reflect on what our own faith is and how its measure is to be taken—whether it is small or great. Recalling the Saviour's following words, “I tell you, if you had faith even the size of a mustard seed, and if you said to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ it would move,” and seeing that nothing moves at our words, we are often inclined to belittle our faith. But we must not forget the distinctive language of Jesus, full of symbols, hyperbole, and vivid poetic images. In rabbinic literature, teachers capable of interpreting the most difficult passages of Scripture were called “movers of mountains.” When we say that faith works miracles, we must also understand the “miracles” themselves in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel, not the spirit of our sinful desires.
