Monday 23 February 2009

Background

In Mark's Gospel, Jesus is often shown in conflict with evil.Evil makes its presence felt through the spirits, but its effectsare not purely spiritual; they are also very concrete.

Here the disciples have been unable to heal a boy whose symptomsare seen as the work of an evil spirit. They have tried to face upto evil, but have failed.

In addressing the evil, Jesus' first and most immediate concern isnot the evil spirit, but the "faithless generation" (verse 19). The'generation' lacks faith, and holds responsibility for this boy'scondition and for the way he is silenced (verse 17).

The prime way this evil makes itself felt is in making the boyunable to speak. Maybe being unable to speak out is an issue forthe whole generation: a generation silenced by fear of Rome, byreligious teachers' legalistic interpretations of Scripture and bya violent and unjust world.

How is such evil, shown in a boy's epilepsy and in a generation'scollusion in its own oppression, to be addressed? The story offerstwo ways forward in facing up to fear and evil: faith andprayer.

When questioned by Jesus the father makes his conditional plea -"If you are able to do anything..." Jesus is incredulous andanswers "All things can be done for the one who believes".Immediately the boy's father replies with words which describe theambivalent, fragile nature of faith, "I believe; help my unbelief!"The subsequent healing tells us that this response is enough. Toface evil and the fear of evil, take the first tentative step offaith.

In private, afterwards, the disciples ask why they couldn't helpthe boy. Jesus' answer offers the other aspect of facing up to fearand evil: to pray. The two are connected: prayer is the activitywhich feeds faith, while faith is expressed in prayer. The father'swords ring out as a prayer of genuine faith: "I believe; help myunbelief!"

To Ponder

To what extent do you believe that prayer andfaith can be steps towards overcoming evil and fear?

When people hold vigils for prayer during a war,or after a terrorist attack, how does that action face up to thepower of evil?