Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 24, 2020
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. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him.
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.”
He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.
When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”
In today’s Gospel, the father qualifies his request that Jesus heal his son with the words, “if you are able to do anything.” Not happy with these limits, Jesus calls him to greater faith. To which, the father responds with a beautiful, honest act of faith, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
For the past few years, I too have placed limits on God, finishing my intercessory prayers saying, “if it is your will.” At first glance, this is a beautiful act of abandonment to the Father’s will and for many people who pray that way, it is. I, on the other hand, was using it as an insurance policy on my faith. I was afraid that if the Father didn’t answer my prayer in the way I expected, my faith would be damaged and I would fall deeper into doubt. I was giving God an “out” in an attempt to protect myself. The doors of my heart were closed due to fear and unbelief.
As this became clear, I was convicted that I need to be specific in my prayer and trust that the Lord would answer through his providence. So a month ago, I decided to give true abandonment and trust a try. One night, after a particularly tough day, I made a resolution to celebrate the gift of life the next day. That next morning, I prayed, in summary, “Father, please provide the party,” without any qualifiers. An hour or two into the workday, I found out that we had a supplier rep visiting. He brought donuts and bagels and chocolate and branded water bottles and stress balls and all sorts of other goodies. Immediately, I knew that the Lord had answered my prayers. I couldn’t help but smile. It was a simple answer to a small daily prayer but through it, my faith grew.
What is one small way that we can place greater trust in God’s providence today without limits or qualifiers?
Prayer
Lord of life, through sin and lack of faith we become cold and lifeless. Help our faith to grow ever stronger, believing that Jesus, who is the resurrection, will raise us up from the death of sin to new and vibrant life.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Tommaso Maria Fusco was everything you could want in a priest. Though his vocation was born in suffering, it produced new life in imitation of the resurrection.
He was born 1831 in Italy to a pharmacist and an aristocratic woman. His parents were known for their faithfulness, but by the time he was 10, he had lost both of them to disease. An uncle took care of him and provided for his education.
In 1839, St. Alphonsus Liguori was canonized, and his story captivated the young Tommaso. The boy fostered a keen desire to give his life to God in service of the Church as a priest. He entered the seminary in 1847, following an older brother who would be ordained two years later.
By the time Tommaso was ordained in 1855, he had lost several other loved ones—his uncle who had taken care of him when his parents died, as well as a younger brother. In all of this suffering, death, and grief, he gravitated to a spirituality rooted in the image of Christ crucified, which fed him through the rest of his life.
Tommaso was skilled at encouraging people in their lives of prayer, and he opened his home to start a day school for wayward boys who needed an education. He also began gathering adults at a parish for evening prayer together.
Soon, he felt called to preach the good news to a wider population. In 1857, he entered a religious community—the Missionaries of Nocera—and spent several years wandering the region, preaching and ministering. He was an effective and motivating speaker, and gathered people around him to grow in the faith. He even brought priests together to study moral theology to improve their skills in the confessional.
He established several communities of prayer and pastoral action among the laity, and founded a religious community of nuns to care for poor girls and to open an orphanage.
Towards the end of his life, his work was envied by others, even fellow priests, and he suffered attacks on his character and false accusations. He bore these accusations by emulating the patience Jesus displayed in his passion.
Tommaso died in 1891 of liver disease—he had not yet reached the age of 60. The people of Pagani, his hometown, honored him as a true missionary and founder, an “exemplary priest” who worked tirelessly for the salvation of souls. The decree they published noted that “in life he loved the poor and in death forgave his enemies.”
Above all, he clung to the suffering of Jesus, and found there a source of hope, and an example to share his love with equal measure. People who knew him recognized him as a holy man. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
Blessed Tommaso Maria Fusco, you saw hope in suffering and helped others find it there, too—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Tommaso Maria Fusco is available for use under the Free Art License. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
