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
before 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 answered, "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 yo u 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."
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 miracles, to move mountains. "Moving mountains" was probably a
proverbial saying. God would certainly let a believer move a mountain
if that were necessary for his glory and for the edific ation 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
clearly 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 degree 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
comparison 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.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.