Feb 16, 2025 Written by 

Faith, Prayer of attention, Healings: no holds barred

(Mk 9:14-29)

 

The messianicity of Christ and Salvation itself belong to the sphere of Faith and Prayer.

 They are the ambits of intimate listening, acute perception, trusting spousal acceptance, and liberating drive.

 On this point Jesus rails against the mediocrity of his followers (vv.18-19) and is forced to start over from scratch (vv.28-29).

 So much so that «having entered the House» that is, into his Church (v.28) he must begin again with basic catechism.

 

The passage is structured along the lines of the first catechumenal liturgies.

The Lord wants people enslaved by power ideology and false devotion to be brought to Him (v.19) and demands the Faith of those who lead them (vv.23-24).

The beginner goes through a life overhaul that «twists» and «leads to the ground».

This is because one can be plagiarised by unwise spiritual guides.

Then it’s a real heartbreak to discover that from childhood (v.21) one has been regulated to a mortifying model of life - made up of easy classifications, which, however, do not realise but dehumanise.

In order to be liberated and rise to new life (v.27) the candidate passes as if through a death - a sort of baptismal immersion, which drowns his former [de facto, paganising] formation.

 

At the time of Mk, many spoke of expelling demons.

In the typology of the new Baptism, the community of Rome wanted to express the objective of the Good News of the Gospels: to help people rise up - freeing themselves from fears of the evil’s power.

In the passage, the child's deafness and muteness indicate the lack of the «Word» that becomes an «event» - both in the midst of the disoriented people and among the disciples, who are sick of protagonism and one-sidedness.

The young man's very behaviour (vv.18.20.26) traces the existential patterns of people subjugated by invincible forces, because they are self-destructive - thus in the grip of obsessive, unrelenting lacerations.

It’s a precisely heart-rending situation: that of one who discovers that he has been deceived by a religiosity of all too common beliefs.

 

The advent of the Kingdom of God meant the coming of a ‘sheltered power’ stronger than the Roman army itself, whose legions were used to maintain situations of civil oppression, even religious fear.

At all times, between the forces that induce profound illnesses [like something that has taken possession of us] and the presence of the Messiah, a no-holds-barred struggle ensues.

The two opposite poles cannot stand each other; they make sparks. But the solution is not to amaze the crowds, nor vice versa to attempt to remake normal things.

Sometimes it seems that we are not in a position to initiate genuine healing processes (v.18).

But evil doesn’t yield by miracle or clamour, nor by force and man's insistence, but by attunement and Gift (v.29). From inner powers.

 

Here is the space of prayer-listening:

For solutions that solve real problems, we do not constantly need conformist rules, but a new ability to ‘read things’.

Our life is not played on the initiative of what we are already able to set up and practice - or interpret, design and predict (vv.14-19) - but about Attention (v.29).

Prayer takes out of boundaries and puts us in touch with other energies and surprises that we had not noticed: innate virtues and of the Grace, which allow to see every situation through different, liberated eyes.

 

 

[Monday 7th wk. in O.T.  February 24, 2025]

713 Last modified on Monday, 24 February 2025 12:00
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

Knowing God, knowing Christ, always means loving him, becoming, in a sense, one with him by virtue of that knowledge and love. Our life becomes authentic and true life, and thus eternal life, when we know the One who is the source of all being and all life (Pope Benedict)
Conoscere Dio, conoscere Cristo significa sempre anche amarLo, diventare in qualche modo una cosa sola con Lui in virtù del conoscere e dell’amare. La nostra vita diventa quindi una vita autentica, vera e così anche eterna, se conosciamo Colui che è la fonte di ogni essere e di ogni vita (Papa Benedetto)
Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. When we speak of this task in which we share by virtue of our baptism, it is no reason to boast (Pope Benedict)
I cristiani sono popolo sacerdotale per il mondo. I cristiani dovrebbero rendere visibile al mondo il Dio vivente, testimoniarLo e condurre a Lui. Quando parliamo di questo nostro comune incarico, in quanto siamo battezzati, ciò non è una ragione per farne un vanto (Papa Benedetto)
Because of this unique understanding, Jesus can present himself as the One who reveals the Father with a knowledge that is the fruit of an intimate and mysterious reciprocity (John Paul II)
In forza di questa singolare intesa, Gesù può presentarsi come il rivelatore del Padre, con una conoscenza che è frutto di un'intima e misteriosa reciprocità (Giovanni Paolo II)
Yes, all the "miracles, wonders and signs" of Christ are in function of the revelation of him as Messiah, of him as the Son of God: of him who alone has the power to free man from sin and death. Of him who is truly the Savior of the world (John Paul II)
Sì, tutti i “miracoli, prodigi e segni” di Cristo sono in funzione della rivelazione di lui come Messia, di lui come Figlio di Dio: di lui che, solo, ha il potere di liberare l’uomo dal peccato e dalla morte. Di lui che veramente è il Salvatore del mondo (Giovanni Paolo II)
It is known that faith is man's response to the word of divine revelation. The miracle takes place in organic connection with this revealing word of God. It is a "sign" of his presence and of his work, a particularly intense sign (John Paul II)
È noto che la fede è una risposta dell’uomo alla parola della rivelazione divina. Il miracolo avviene in legame organico con questa parola di Dio rivelante. È un “segno” della sua presenza e del suo operare, un segno, si può dire, particolarmente intenso (Giovanni Paolo II)
That was not the only time the father ran. His joy would not be complete without the presence of his other son. He then sets out to find him and invites him to join in the festivities (cf. v. 28). But the older son appeared upset by the homecoming celebration. He found his father’s joy hard to take; he did not acknowledge the return of his brother: “that son of yours”, he calls him (v. 30). For him, his brother was still lost, because he had already lost him in his heart (Pope Francis)
Ma quello non è stato l’unico momento in cui il Padre si è messo a correre. La sua gioia sarebbe incompleta senza la presenza dell’altro figlio. Per questo esce anche incontro a lui per invitarlo a partecipare alla festa (cfr v. 28). Però, sembra proprio che al figlio maggiore non piacessero le feste di benvenuto; non riesce a sopportare la gioia del padre e non riconosce il ritorno di suo fratello: «quel tuo figlio», dice (v. 30). Per lui suo fratello continua ad essere perduto, perché lo aveva ormai perduto nel suo cuore (Papa Francesco)

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