Mk 9:14-29
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.”
He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him, “If you are able! —All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Belief and Unbelief
… but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ Mark 9:22-24
The father’s prayer rings so true to me. Even with the stakes so high – a cure for his son! – he does not lie by asserting an unqualified belief. Rather, he expresses his belief and his doubt, his certainty and his unbelief. And that is sufficient for Jesus to cure the child.
I imagine what happened next. I picture the father returning home, overwhelmed with joy and faith. Once back home, did the father, out of habit, find himself watching his son for signs of another life-threatening fit? Did doubt creep in, even after the cure? If so, I imagine the father reliving his encounter with Jesus, and asking again for help with that stubborn kernel of unbelief. And I imagine his doubt dwindling further as he prays in honesty, humility, and trust.
—Marianna Pierce serves on the Board of Directors of the Ignatian Spirituality Project, a Jesuit ministry providing spiritual retreats and companionship to people in recovery from homelessness and addiction in 20+ cities.
Prayer
Dear God, In this upcoming Lent, help me to examine honestly my faith and doubts. Guide me in addressing the barriers to greater faith. And grant me always to trust in your mercy.
—Marianna Pierce