I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. I love you, Lord, my strength.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 17:14-20, today's readings).

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.

The father who brings his son to Jesus has watched the son suffer terribly, falling into fire and often into water. In his anguish, he brings him to the disciples, who try to cure the boy but fail. When the boy is brought to Jesus, he rebukes the demon, who comes out of him immediately, and the disciples ask, "Why could we not drive it out?" Along with chastising them, Jesus encourages the disciples. Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. "Nothing," Jesus says, "will be impossible for you." What kind of faith the father must have had to bring his son first to the disciples and then to Jesus. Through his perseverance, the father received his son back, restored and whole, from the arms of the Good Shepherd.

God, help me have faith at all times, whether I succeed or fail to see its effects. Just as the father put all of his trust in Jesus, give me the grace to do the same even during trials and suffering. In the first reading, Moses says to the people: "The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." With the little faith I have, Lord, help deepen my understanding of the words of Jesus: "Nothing will be impossible for you."

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.