Monday - February 21, 2022
O Jesus, if I but considered attentively your immense solicitude for me, how greatly should I not excel in every virtue? Pardon me, O Jesus, so much carelessness, pardon such great ignorance. My God, Jesus my Love, Uncreated Goodness, what would have become of me if you had not drawn me to yourself? Open your heart to me, open to me your sacramental breast; I open mine to you.
-- St Gemma Galgani
TODAY'S READINGS
MONDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 341
Beloved:
Who among you is wise and understanding?
Let him show his works by a good life
in the humility that comes from wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not boast and be false to the truth.
Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above
but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure,
then peaceable, gentle, compliant,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without inconstancy or insincerity.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
for those who cultivate peace.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (9a) The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart
find favor before you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
R. The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
Immediately on seeing him,
the whole crowd was utterly amazed.
They ran up to him and greeted him.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him,
“Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit.
Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down;
he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”
He said to them in reply,
“O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.”
They brought the boy to him.
And when he saw him,
the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around
and foam at the mouth.
Then he questioned his father,
“How long has this been happening to him?”
He replied, “Since childhood.
It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering,
rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it,
“Mute and deaf spirit, I command you:
come out of him and never enter him again!”
Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out.
He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!”
But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
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HOW SMALL IS YOUR GOD?
Our Gospel reading today holds an important lesson on unbelief, which we all experience to some degree. Unbelief is what robs us of our power over the devil, as it did for the disciples who failed to expel the evil spirit from the boy. Unbelief is what motivates us to take matters into our own hands and do things our way or the world's way instead of obeying God's ways. Unbelief is what warps our idea of who God really is.
Unbelief comes from putting God into a box -- a finite box that's no bigger than our own brains. I first learned about this many years ago while frustrated over the apparent ineffectiveness of my prayers. In my limited awareness, I concluded that whenever I was around others who were seeking God's divine intervention, they would only get a miracle if I left the room. As if my unbelief was ruining it for those who did believe!
I had boxed God into a small idea. In my brain, I limited who he is and what he can do and what he wants to do, based on my human experiences. I was praying to my own idea of God, my own created image of him.
To break free of this, I did a spiritual exercise that you might find helpful, too. I pictured a box inside my head. I imagined opening that box to let God burst out of it. I "saw" him expanding to a much, much larger size -- he grew larger than the universe, larger than my imagination could stretch to contain, and even larger than that. Then I prayed to that God. Wow! The difference in my faith was awesome! I could trust a God who was that huge and powerful.
The opposite of unbelief, according to Jesus, is faith. We might think we don't have enough faith for miracles, but we do, because faith is pure gift, given to us by the Holy Spirit during our baptisms. But faith must be exercised through trust, which is a decision, not a feeling, not a gift. Trust is the decision to let God out of the box.
Jesus told his disciples that the reason they couldn't expel the demon was because prayer was required. Our most powerful works for God's kingdom come from a foundation of prayer. When we enter into heart-felt prayer (not rote prayer that's merely a bunch of words passing thoughtlessly across our lips), we unite ourselves to God and open up the box of our limited thinking to meditate on who God really is.
The best prayer we can offer when trust is weak is, like the stricken boy's father said to Jesus, "I do believe! Help my unbelief!" In this, we admit our limited understanding of God while asserting that our true desire is to be a believer. Choosing to trust God does not mean that we force ourselves to have trust; it means that we want to trust -- and Jesus does the rest.
Today's Prayer
My Lord, You know my faith is small. I need You to strengthen it so in Your name the signs and wonders will multiply and convince the world of Your love for us. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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