While we are in the midst of the Great Fast, we read today the account of the healing of the boy possessed by a demon who our Lord said could only be delivered from such a demon by prayer and fasting. If we recall, this account takes place immediately after the glorious Transfiguration of our Lord where He spoke to Moses and Elijah. Both of these holy men lived lives of prayer and fasting and were therefore shown to Peter, James, and John to be rewarded Communion with our Lord in His glory for having lived such lives.
We may sometimes wonder how important our praying or fasting is, but this account can help remind us that it is so important that our Lord showed us that this type of life is necessary to see the Transfigured Christ and share in His Divine Radiance, and to be able to cast out demons.
When our Lord hears from the man that the Apostles could not cast out the demon, He responds rather sharply saying, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” If our Lord was blasphemed even when He performed great miracles, it is very likely that when His critics learned of His disciples that had been sent to cast out demons, could not cast out this demon, they found all the more reason to blaspheme our Lord.
We can also see the sharp contrast of the event that had just occurred on the mountain of Transfiguration with the unbelief of the crowd and father of the demon possessed boy. We know the great condescension that our Lord made coming to the Earth and becoming man, and so after showing the three Apostles His Divine radiance and for a short time experiencing what is to come after the Great and final Judgment, it was very taxing on Him to see such lack of Faith even when our Lord was in their very midst.
When we determine that our problems in this life are beyond healing from our great and all-powerful God, we too grieve our Lord. We know that Christ has given us the ability to conquer the demons and any sin, no matter how terrible and addicting it may be.
As our Lord slowly brings the father of the boy closer to understanding, He says to him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Then we are told, “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” From this reminder that the God who created man can heal man, the man became a believer that his son could be healed. And not only that, but that the Lord could overcome his own lack of faith.
We must continue to read Holy Scripture and Holy spiritual writings daily to keep reminding ourselves of the Gospel message that Christ has conquered death by His Cross and opened Paradise to us all. And then when we put our trust in Him to heal our sinfulness, but recognizing our inability to fully trust in Him, we ask in prayer to be given the faith that we lack.
We see that the father of the boy cried out with tears. We call the Mystery of Confession the Baptism of tears. When we have fallen and allowed a demon to master us, we beg God for forgiveness and with tears ask Him to give us strength to not sin anymore.
The demon in this account was most likely a demon of licentiousness by how it is described. The fact that it cast the boy into fire and water could mean that it could cast a man into strange loves devoid of affection or sometimes into gluttony and excessive indulgence in drinking and parties. Our Lord calls the demon deaf and dumb because a person who has let a demon such as this rule his life is very opposed to hearing or speaking of sacred subjects.
If a person has not been fully possessed by a demon such as this but has erred and followed some of his suggestions, he must repent with prayer and fasting. Only by curbing his body and its stirrings and driving out the satanic thoughts with prayer can a man overcome and be healed.
But as in this case, sometimes the demon has taken full control of the person. This is where the prayers of Christians that have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them can do what the possessed man is not capable of doing for himself, namely praying and fasting.
Here we have a very clear teaching from our Lord of the power of prayer and fasting on behalf of others. Knowing that in God all are alive and that “neither death nor life … shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Rom. 8:38-39) we know that prayers for the departed also are powerful for the same reason of the interconnectedness that the members of the Church have with the Holy Trinity and the Holy Angels. We are also benefited by the prayers of the Saints that have gone before us.
So, as we continue in the Great Fast of Holy Lent, may we remember the great spiritual benefits that we derive from our prayers and fasting that will allow us to drive out inspirations from the demons that would drive us into the fire and water of sins. Only then will we be given the ability to see our Lord in His great brilliance that He showed His Apostles on the Holy Mountain of Transfiguration, to whom belong all glory, honor, and worship, with His Father and the all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
