If you wish to read the text click here: Hab:1:12-2:4; Mt 17:14-20
This miracle story of the
healing of an epileptic boy is found also in Mark (9,14-29), but Matthew has
shortened it considerably by omitting many of the details found in Mark. This
also results in a change in the focus of the story. In Matthew, the exorcism
proper is narrated so briefly that it is clear that the exorcism is
subordinated to the pronouncement on faith. The inability of the disciples to
exorcise is because of their little faith. The father of the boy addresses
Jesus as “Lord” which is an indication that he is a believer and thus Matthew
omits the dialogue between the father and Jesus in Mark 9,21-24, where the father
expresses doubt in Jesus’ ability to cure his child.
Each of us has been given the
power to heal and make whole. We can do this by a kind word or a loving
gesture. However, on the one hand we are not convinced that we possess this
power and so are loathe to use it, and on the other hand we think that a
miracle is only something extra-ordinary or stupendous, and so we are not
capable of it.
Your Hope-filled encouragement of the power within us- to heal and restore wholeness through a "kind word or loving gesture-has infused my heart and mind with peace and gratitude.
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