Lord, Help My Unbelief

The appointed Gospel for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from the 17^th chapter of Matthew:

 

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’ (Mt. 17:14-21).

 

Some people’s faith is strong.  Others struggle with their faith, just like the disciples in today’s passage.  I am reminded of the prayer by the man in Mark’s Gospel who cries out, “Lord help my unbelief!”  Mk. 9:24. 

 

I find Bishop N.T. Wright’s approach very helpful when I think about faith, doubt and God.  In his book Small Faith, Great God, he writes: “Faith means totally relying on God and committing ourselves to God for time and for eternity, trusting his promises, obeying his commands, not trying to make ourselves good enough for him but trusting in the fact that he accepts us as we are because of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.” Small Faith, Great God at p. 37 (1978).

 

Let us pray: Almighty God, help us to see things more clearly, to open out hearts to rely on you and your faithful promises realized in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

It is hurricane season!  Are you ready?  Make sure that your home insurance is up to date and that you have an evacuation plan.  Remember that St. James Episcopal Church in Austin is a place that you can use as an evacuation center. 

 

Every Wednesday, the Healing Arts Ministry with Lee Runion starting at 11:00 AM with a light lunch provided.

 

The Seaside Seniors meet every third Thursday of the month in Sutton Hall at 1100 AM.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List and especially Tom, Patricia, Audrey, Lee’s mother and his family, Pat, Julie, all of those who are serving in the Armed Forces, Randy, and Steve Francis.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550