It is 20th February 2023. The readings are from Sir.1:1-10 and the Gospel Mark 9:14-29. The first reading teaches us that wisdom comes from God. If we have the reverential fear to the Lord, so we have the wisdom of the Lord. when we get used to the Lord and lose the utmost respect and fear, we lose wisdom. We cannot understand the ways of the Lord without the wisdom that comes from God. God generously offers such wisdom to all those who love God. We acquire the wisdom by constantly listening and practicing the Word of God and the spiritual experiences we have daily. When we embrace the wisdom, God begins to govern, and direct our lives with certitude. “All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with God forever.” (Sir.1:1). The responsorial Psalm praises, “The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.” (Ps.92:1). In the Gospel, we see Jesus casting out a mute spirit because the disciples failed to do so. Jesus rebukes them and points out to that they could not cast out the demon all because they lacked prayer with faith. Our faith grows dim and weak when we do not pray. Our personal surrender to the Lord in communicating with God is so crucial for dealing with such type of evil in our lives and in the lives of the other. Most of us like the disciples believe that we have faith and therefore we can do anything. Faith without personal prayer and commitment, we cannot expel the evil spirits in and around us. We all need to pray just like the father of the boy in the Gospel, “I do believe. Help my lack of trust.” (Mk.9:24). Faith becomes strong and deep only through our prayer and moreover there are certain types of evils, we cannot deal without prayer. There is so much of shortage in our personal prayer. We mostly be satisfied by visiting the church on a weekly basis to fight our spiritual warfare daily. There is so much need of personal prayer in our lives. How much time we give or set apart for God daily? After all, it is the prayer life that keep us going forward when walking and living becomes tough and challenging day by day. May you have a good day.
