Excerpt From Last Weekend’s Homily

In the gospel of Mark we are told the story of a father that comes to Jesus’ disciples begging that they remove an evil spirit that has been afflicting his son since his childhood. This evil spirit would throw the boy down to the ground, and cause him to gnash his teeth, foam at the mouth, and go rigid. But the disciples were unable cast out the spirit. And Jesus says to the disciples, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” And Jesus says to the father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” In tears, the father responds to Jesus saying, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” And Jesus heals the boy.

It seems to me that our relationship to the Creed and to the covenant is much like this father is to Jesus. In our statement of “I believe,” what might be closer to what our own hearts are saying is, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” This story in Mark is not about demon possessions or exorcisms, but about faith. Mark’s point is that the boy’s father both believes and does not believe. He believes but does not at that moment have faith to which he can appeal to for the sake of his son. But as an act of faith, he prays for faith. Our expression of “I believe” also lives in that uncomfortable space between belief and seeking. As I noted earlier, the Christian life is a journey. It is not static, but dynamic. We are always in a state of better understanding what it is that we assent to when we utter, “I believe.” The Christian life is about living in this uncomfortable space.