Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 17, 14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to 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.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
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The power of prayer
1. An epileptic son. We see a desperate father. He cannot control the situation; what he loves most, his son, is ill and is suffering. Epilepsy may lead a person to self-injure and lose control, even to the extent of not knowing who they are. Epilepsy may even lead to death – a fit of epilepsy can be terrible. This father suffers because he doesn’t know how to help his son. Many people struggle because they watch their loved ones suffer. It pains them to see the ones they care about hurt themselves and have attacks. And sadly, many times the only thing you can do is be there with them, keep them company; wait and make sure they don’t hurt themselves.
2) Spiritual epilepsy. This is the situation of people with the following characteristics:
A) They fall apart. Their self-esteem drops. They do not value themselves; it seems that life has swept them away. They may almost feel like a cockroach They have no creative capacity. There’s nothing that can lift their spirits.
B) They can’t control themselves. They feel there is no stability in their lives. Today they may feel like crying and tomorrow they want to laugh. These people have an existential drama: they don’t know what they want and therefore they are constantly undecided. What’s more, they start many things but leave everything unfinished.
C) They can’t express themselves. They feel they can’t talk or scream. That may happen to you too. Many times, you can’t express what’s wrong with you. You’re not able to tell others what is in your heart, and that kills you. You often need a place to cry and scream on your own! It seems nobody lets you cry peacefully.
3) Pray. That’s where the power of your life resides: in PRAYER. Look for a moment to pray. Seek intimacy with God, even if all you do is remain silent before Jesus. Let Him, and only Him, heal you. Prayer is powerful and it restores you. Look for that time to pray. Prayer will heal you and set you free.
Never forget that something good is on the way!
