Jesus got down from Mount Tabor on the day after the Transfiguration. “... he saw many people and some Scribes arguing with the disciples.” (Mk 9:14) They had tried an exorcism in the absence of Jesus but failed.
“He asked, ‘What are you arguing about?’ Someone in the crowd said, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a dumb spirit. Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down; and he foams, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.’” (Mk 9:16-8)
We see here the cruelty and tyranny of the devil. God had allowed him to possess this child and to ill-treat him from time to time. Then the devil tormented him ‘as often’ as he could, ‘as much’ as he could, and had he been able, would have done so “more ... often falls into the fire and often into the water” (Mt 17:15).
What horror then should we have of the devil! And yet Christians surrender to him body and soul by committing mortal sin! How often have we fallen into following his treachery by yielding to thoughts and desires of vainglory, ambition, envy and sensuality?
Jesus, seeing the crowd scandalized by the failure of which the Scribes accused the Apostles, announced these words of bitter indignation, “You faithless and evil people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me. ...” (Mt 17:17)
Note how differently our Saviour acted here from what he did in his Passion when he did not complain. ‘Now’ he complains bitterly. Our little faith and resistance to grace make his sufferings for so much love, to be of no avail. Have we given him cause to complain?
The Apostles asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus replied, “Because of your little faith. 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 obey; nothing will be impossible. This kind can come out only through prayer and fasting.” (Mt 17:19-20)
This episode teaches three things: a) that we, who are called to work for the conversion of sinners, to deliver them from the tyranny of the devil, ought to have faith in a higher degree than most of the faithful; b) that the greater our faith, the more able shall we be to do great things for the glory of God and salvation of our neighbor; and c) that in certain cases our faith, to be availing, must be accompanied by acts of corporal penance eg, ‘fasting’.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp565-7
Light from Bethlehem
The journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem is simple, humble and unspectacular. The same can be said of the birth of the Son of God: in the humility and poverty of a cave, in the middle of a cold, silent night.
It cannot be said that silence and solitude are ‘our’ popular constant companions. In our normal day, periods of silence are few and far between. We hardly know what it means to fight against noise in our soul. And solitude, let’s be frank about it, makes us afraid; we often associate it with boredom and tedium.
In the birth of the Son of God poverty is so complete it assumes a certain grandeur. And so simple it borders on poetry. He who adorns the flowers, the fields and the birds has hardly the means to cover his nakedness. Many doors have been closed to him; many others have not opened. The two wayfarers have sought in vain a shelter for the night. There was no room for them in the inn.
It’s very sad that so many people disregard this virtue altogether and live so wastefully and frivolously. This desire for the superfluous, for ‘more, more’ temporal possessions, unfortunately dictates the life-style and gives the true measure of very many people. It seems the light of Bethlehem has not reached them. And very few seem to have taken to heart our Lord’s commandment: “Give what is left over to the poor.” (Lk 11:41) The borderline between what is necessary and what is superfluous is continually shifting in the outlook and aims and lives of many Christians.
Ref: Cf Fr M Guzman, “Encounters with Christ”, 1990, pp109-10
The silence of Mary
How we wished the Gospels would tell us more about the life of Our Lady and what she said! Love encourages us to know more about our Mother in Heaven. God has seen fit to reveal only what we need to know of her life on earth. Her silence in history conforms to the status of an ordinary female resident of Palestine.
The Virgin did not reveal the mystery of the Incarnation to her cousin Elizabeth. At the Visitation, Elizabeth discovered the secret thanks to divine inspiration. Nor did Our Lady reveal her secret to Joseph. An angel in a dream told Joseph. Mary also kept silent when the Messiah was born. Angels told the shepherds.
When Joseph and Mary took the child to the Temple for the Presentation, they did not give advance notice about Jesus to Simeon or Anna, the prophetess. They were just another married couple with their first-born son. Later on, as residents in Egypt and then Nazareth, Mary told no one about the divine mystery which fulfilled the yearning of the Chosen People.
Mary “treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51). “The Virgin did not seek the glory men give to one another. It is enough for her that God knows everything. And he doesn’t need spectacular declarations to inform man of his prodigies.” (S Muñoz Iglesias, “The Gospel of Mary”, Madrid 1973)
Mary lived in a beautiful state of presence of God. Her contemplative spirit has a certain enchantment. (Chiara Lubich, “Meditations”, Madrid 1989, p4) In the intimacy of her soul, Mary delved deeper and deeper into the mystery that had been revealed to her alone. Dear Mary, Mother of prayer, teach us to discover God who is so close to our lives! Help us to find him in the silence and peace of our hearts.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 5:75-6
• Our Lady of the Fountain, half a league from Valenciennes, [France]. Tradition relates that the Blessed Virgin appeared, in this place to a hermit, when the plague ravaged the town, and commanded him to tell the inhabitants to fast on the following day, and pass the night in prayer. Having done this, they saw her descend from heaven and gird the town all around with a cord. This cord is still preserved at Valenciennes. — Narrative of the Affair. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Fountain (near Valenciennes, France). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Fountain / Valenciennes. France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Guadalupe. Spain. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
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