Two further reflections.
We hear Jesus respond to the father's cry for help, "but if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us," with what seems to be filled with harsh and edgy words of choice: "if you can! Everything is possible to one who has faith."
We initially interpret this statement as a statement directed toward the father and his son or even an accusation against them. In some regards even against us. We see it has a statement about the faith level or at least the lack of faith of the father and son.
But in reality the statement is a statement about Christ himself. The statement is meant to get the father to look beyond himself, to not get lost within his own inability or his own self-doubt but to put his focus on the one who has faith.
Jesus simply reminds the father and us who read that He is the one who has Faith. Even John in the book of Revelation calls Jesus the Faithful Witness.
Jesus reminds the father that he has come to the right place; he has finally arrived at the well that has not run dry, the well spring of life that heals and strengthens and provides.
Secondly:
The father responds with a statement that rings true for all of us: "I believe, help my unbelief."
There has never been a more truer statement that describes each of us, all of us equally, at every moment of our life. If we are honest with our self, we are always in the state of belief and unbelief.
The reality of our faith life is such that different situations throughout our life will often reveal our unbelief gradually and thus provide an opportunity for our faith to be enriched. Our unbelief is always being revealed to us bits and pieces at a time, especially in times of trials. These are the moments that our faith is purified. Our faith is always in need of purification and thus deepen. One cannot deepen what one does not realize is shallow.
We never know the full extent of our unbelief, but time reveals it; every corner of life, as the mystery of tomorrow's trials encounter us, shows to us the true countenance of our faith. We must go to Christ, be honest, and let him purify our faith as we seek to trust in ourself less and trust in him more.
The journey of life is a journey of thousands steps that repeatedly purify our faith in him who is the faithful one, Jesus Christ.
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