From: Matthew 17:14-20

The Curing of an Epileptic Boy

[14] And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling be-
fore him said, [15] “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he
suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. [16] And I
brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” [17] And Jesus an-
swered, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How
long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” [18] And Jesus rebuked him,
and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. [19] Then the
disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” [20]
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move hence to
yonder place,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

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Commentary:

14-21. This episode of the curing of the boy shows both Christ’s omnipotence
and the power of prayer full of faith. Because of his deep union with Christ, a
Christian shares, through faith, in God’s own omnipotence, to such an extent
that Jesus actually says on another occasion, “he who believes in me will also
do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go
to the Father” (Jn 14:12).

Our Lord tells the Apostles that if they had faith they would be able to work mi-
racles, to move mountains. “Moving mountains” was probably a proverbial sa-
ying. God would certainly let a believer move a mountain if that were necessary
for his glory and for the edification of one’s neighbor; however, Christ’s promise
is fulfilled everyday in a much more exalted way. Some Fathers of the Church
(St. Jerome, St. Augustine) say that “a mountain is moved” every time someone
is divinely aided to do something which exceed man’s natural powers. This clear-
ly happens in the work of our sanctification, which the Paraclete effects in our
souls when we are docile to him and receive with faith and love the grace given
us in the sacraments: we benefit from the sacraments to a greater or lesser de-
gree depending on the dispositions with which we receive them. Sanctification
is something more sublime than moving mountains, and it is something which
is happening every day in so many holy souls, even though most people do not
notice it.

The Apostles and many saints down the centuries have in fact worked amazing
material miracles; but the greatest and most important miracles were, are and
will be the miracles of souls dead through sin and ignorance being reborn and
developing in the new life of the children of God.

20. Here and in the parable of Matthew 13:31-32 the main force of the compari-
son lies in the fact that a very small seed — the mustard seed — produces a
large shrub up to three meters (ten feet) high: even a very small act of genuine
faith can produce surprising results.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Habakkuk 1:12-2:4 ©

Are not you, from ancient times the Lord,

my God, my Holy One, who never dies?

O Lord, you have made this people an instrument of justice,

set it firm as a rock in order to punish.

Your eyes are too pure to rest on wickedness,

you cannot look on at tyranny.

Why do you look on while men are treacherous,

and stay silent while the evil man swallows a better man than he?

You treat mankind like fishes in the sea,

like creeping, masterless things.

A people, these, who catch all on their hook,

who draw them with their net,

in their dragnet gather them,

and so, triumphantly, rejoice.

At this, they offer a sacrifice to their net,

and burn incense to their dragnet,

for providing them with luxury

and lavish food.

Are they then to empty their net unceasingly,

slaughtering nations without pity?

I will stand on my watchtower,

and take up my post on my battlements,

watching to see what he will say to me,

what answer he will make to my complaints.

Then the Lord answered and said,

‘Write the vision down,

inscribe it on tablets

to be easily read,

since this vision is for its own time only:

eager for its own fulfilment, it does not deceive;

if it comes slowly, wait,

for come it will, without fail.

‘See how he flags, he whose soul is not at rights,

but the upright man will live by his faithfulness.’

Psalm	Psalm 9A:8-13 ©

You will never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.

The Lord sits enthroned for ever.

He has set up his throne for judgement;

he will judge the world with justice,

he will judge the peoples with his truth.

You will never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.

For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold,

a stronghold in times of distress.

Those who know your name will trust you;

you will never forsake those who seek you.

You will never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.

Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion.

Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples,

for the Avenger of blood has remembered them,

has not forgotten the cry of the poor.

You will never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation	cf.Ep1:17,18

Alleluia, alleluia!

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

enlighten the eyes of our mind,

so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Matthew 17:14-20 ©

A man came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.

Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out? they asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’