NOTES for Mat 17:14-20
Life comes about through the word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Whoever wants to live must listen. That is why the foremost prayer of the Old Testament, heard today, begins with the words: “Hear, O Israel.”
In today's Gospel episode, the disciples were unable to cast out the demon and give life to the afflicted boy. The reason was probably that they were speaking their own words rather than God's. For the words we speak to be words from God, we need an abiding connection with Him—the connection the Gospel calls faith.