Demons That Remain

Gospel: Matthew 17: 14-20

In today's reading the disciples are unable to expel a demon from a man's son.  They are exasperated and cannot understand why they failed.  Jesus rebukes his disciples for their lack of faith, blaming the continued existence of the demon entirely on them.  Jesus removes the demon from the boy and restores him to complete health.

How many demons remain in our lives and in our world because of our lack of faith? We have bad habits and broken relationships, but we lack the faith to take the first steps to recovery or repair the broken relationship.  Our world is beset with violence, war, poverty, and illness, but we are unwilling to care for the poor, refugees, immigrants, or those who lack health care.  We lack the faith and the love necessary to take the steps to overcome these demons in our lives and in our world.

We may claim to have tried to resolve these issues, but did we use our faith, or did we rely on our political ideologies that are often our real religions? Authentic faith always finds a solution to help other people, to remove the demon.  By following the example of the Lord Jesus we can remove the demons that plague our individual lives and our larger society.