HOMILY WEEK 07 01 – Year II
The Healing Power of Faith, Prayer and Fasting
(James 3:13-18; Ps 19: Mk 9:14-29)
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“This kind can be driven out only through prayer and fasting.”
This comment, and today’s readings, invite us to deepen our faith through prayer, and consider making fasting part of following Jesus as his disciples.
With regard to faith, the father of the possessed boy in today’s gospel becomes an excellent model for us through his prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” That is so like us – we believe, but our faith often falls short of the total trust and surrender to God’s will that God is hoping from us. We can and should make the heartfelt prayer of this distraught father, our prayer, daily if need be.
The disciples, with their limited faith, simply could not heal this possessed boy and deliver him from the demons tormenting him. That earned from Jesus the comment above, about the importance of prayer and fasting if we are to be effective in our ministry of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, and helping others grow spiritually.
Our prayer is based first of all in our faith in Jesus and his power to heal. It is interesting that James, in the first reading, perhaps even inadvertently touches on the two-fold role of Jesus as the Messiah – to redeem and to sanctify, to forgive and to heal. In mentioning “envy and selfish ambition,” he is talking about our “sinfulness” – that which makes us sin. That is made up of our painful emotions like anger and resentment, and negative attitudes like false pride and stubborn self-will. These aren’t really sins for which we need forgiveness. They run much deeper and cause us to sin. For these we need healing.
When James mentions “disorder and wickedness,” now he is talking about sins, our hurtful words, actions or omissions when we act out of our sinfulness. For these things we need to come to Jesus for forgiveness, and the good news is that Jesus as the Messiah came precisely for that – to liberate us through both forgiveness and healing.
Our faith in Jesus is expressed in prayer. Prayer is lifting up to God whatever is in our minds and hearts. It is also trying to create a space where the word of God can penetrate into our hearts, and become more fully a part of who we are.
There are, to my mind, two specific ways of praying that can help us grow stronger in our faith, and more effective in our ministry and our work. Those two ways are the Prayer of the Anawim, and Lectio Divina.
Lectio Divina has four stages: lectio (reading a scripture passage prayerfully), meditatio (thinking about this passage and asking ourselves what is God saying to us through this word), oratio (an intimate conversation with God about that word and praying with it) and finally, contemplatio (setting all thoughts and feelings aside and just being present to the Word of God, allowing the Spirit to touch and heal us at a deeper level than any counseling and therapy can go). We would do well to make the practice of Lectio Divina part of our daily life of prayer.
The prayer of the Anawim (a Hebrew word meaning the poor people who are humble, have no pretenses and know they need God) should also be the way we start each day. This is the prayer St. Peter learned when walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. His first prayer to Jesus (“Lord, make me come to you on the water”) was a proud prayer, wanting to do what Jesus was doing. Peter had faith, stepped out of the boat and was actually walking on the water. However, I think Peter, like most of us, was proud, took his eyes off Jesus, looked back at the others in the boat to show off a little, felt the wind, and started to sink.
Now his prayer changed to three words coming not from his head, but from his gut – “Lord, save me!” And suddenly Jesus was there holding him up and asking him why he doubted. What do you think Peter did next – let go of Jesus and claim he could manage on his own, or hang on to him and walk together with him back to the boat? I think the latter, and so should we. Each morning, our first act should be to get on our knees, admit our need for Jesus’ power, thank him for the gift of this day, and ask him to both fill us with the gifts to his Spirit we need for that day, as well as to heal us of whatever sinfulness we were struggling with yesterday. Doing this means we are walking with Jesus and not on our own, one day at a time, and this practice can transform our lives.
The fasting Jesus mentions has unfortunately almost dropped out of the lives of most of us, except for the one hour of fasting before we receive communion, as well as abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, which is quite minimal. Perhaps it is time to renew our appreciation of the role of fasting in our lives. That appreciation has come back to me through both Indigenous spirituality and a monthly Poustinia retreat.
I was fortunate to enter into five four-day fasts out in nature, going without food or water for about 72 hours, in the company of others and with the help of Indigenous elders. Every time I did that, a new awareness would surface from deep within me, such as my need to grieve my losses, which proved to be a powerful experience. It was also a powerful cleansing of my body, and a source of renewed energy coming out of the fast. Poustinia, the Russian word for desert, is for me a monthly 24 hour period of fasting on water only, praying, resting and writing.
Today the Church honors someone who truly lived the readings for today. St Peter Damian is a Doctor of the Church, so honored for his writings, as well as his work for reform and renewal of the Church. He became a hermit monk and was eventually chosen superior of his community. In 1058 he was appointed bishop of Ostia. Throughout his life he fought for clerical reform and against the laxness and immorality of the clergy of his day. Eventually, he received permission from Pope Alexander to return to the simple life of a monk. He died in 1072.
The Eucharist, an act of faith and based on the Word of God, is also an experience of forgiveness and healing for all those who enter into it with sincerity. May our celebration today help our unbelief, and empower us to deepen our prayer life as well as find ways to make fasting more a part of following Jesus into his kingdom.
