GOSPEL POWER l AUGUST 7, 2021

18th Week in Ordinary Time

 Mt 17:14-20 

14A man came to Jesus, knelt before him, 15and said, “Lord, have  mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he 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 instantly. 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.” 

Before Jesus sends his apostles as his representatives in Mt  10:1, he gives them authority to drive out unclean spirits.  Thus, the apostles’ power-over-demons does not emanate  from themselves. It is delegated power, and to activate it, they must  stay connected with Jesus. This is the sense of performing powerful  deeds in the name of Jesus. Knowing the apostles’ obsession with  greatness (cf. Mt 18:1-5; 20:20-28), we can surmise that in today’s  Gospel, when asked to exorcise the lunatic boy, their enthusiasm to  show what they could do, made them overlook the most important  thing — that is, to invoke the name of Jesus, the source of their authority.  The faith that Jesus speaks of entails constant, unbroken connection  with him and reliance on him. Lord Jesus, keep us constantly aware that, like branches on the vine, we can bear fruit only because of our vital connection with you. Amen.