Matthew 17:14-20 NRSVue

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, ¹⁵and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy and suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” ¹⁷Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured from that moment. ¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”^,

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Reflection on Matthew 17:14-20

Inspiration from 2023-08-12 Daily Prayer

Not surprisingly, Jesus can get quite frustrated at our perversity and lack of faith. In what areas of my life do I show these qualities of non-responsiveness? What can I do about them?

Jesus has no doubt that if we had enough faith we could move mountains. In other words, if my relationship with the Father were as strong as Jesus’ was, the power of God could flow freely through me and achieve great things. Do I want this?

Further reflection

Lord, I look and listen as you speak of the faith that moves mountains. I wonder why I am so far from that. The disciples felt the same. Saint Mark, reporting this incident, quotes the wonderful prayer of this epileptic boy’s father, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”