Sirach 1:1-10 / Mark 9:14-29

We are in the seventh week of Ordinary Time.

Today the evangelist Mark tells us about the exorcism of a boy by Jesus, since the disciples were unable to cast out the mute and deaf spirit.

The boy's father had brought him to Jesus, because the spirit seized him, threw him down and he began to foam at the mouth, grind his teeth and become rigid. The spirit had already thrown the boy into the fire and water to kill him.

As we know, in the Jewish mentality of that time, diseases were associated with demonic possession. Therefore, it was necessary to exorcise the sick person in order for him to be cured. Considering the symptoms described here, the boy had probably been epileptic since childhood.

Telling his father that everything was possible to one who had faith, Jesus commanded the spirit to came out of the boy and never entered him again. The spirit shouted and threw the boy into convulsions, and came out. The boy became like a corpse, and many said he had died. But Jesus took the boy by the hand, raised him, and the boy stood up.

At home, the disciples asked Jesus why they could not drive the spirit out, and the answer was that only through prayer could that kind come out.

By allowing exorcisms, God was showing the Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Let us be like the father of that boy and believe in the power of Jesus to exorcise us of all spiritual evil. And let us strengthen ourselves in prayer to overcome the demons, who tremble and flee when they hear the name of Jesus.

Today we begin reading the book of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Sirach. The book tells us that the Lord created Wisdom in the Holy Spirit before all things, that all Wisdom comes from the Lord, that She has always been with Him, and that the Word of God is the source of Wisdom.

Let us ardently desire the Wisdom that the Lord pours out upon all His works and upon every living thing. Let us be friends of God, the Most High and Powerful King, so that He may lavish Wisdom upon us. Let us quench our thirst for Wisdom in the Sacred Scripture.

Local: Springfield, MA, EUA

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