“I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mk 9: 24). We find the record of these words in the Gospel of St. Mark. They are spoken to Jesus by an anguished father who seeks the Lord’s help to cure his son who is mute and possessed by a spirit of evil.

 

Jesus had the boy brought to Him and He questioned the father about how long this had been going on. When the father concluded his description of the possession he said to Jesus, “… if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

 

Jesus responded immediately to the ambiguity in the father’s words. He said to the father, “If you can! Everything is possible to one who has faith.” (Mk 9:23). Jesus then proceeded to expel the demon.

 

It’s hard to know exactly what was in the mind of the suffering father. Was he awed by being in the presence of Jesus about whom he had likely heard many things? Deep down did he doubt the power of Jesus, even as he asked for His help? Or was he, perhaps, being polite and leaving room for Jesus to be concerned by other more important things than the family troubles of an unnamed individual?

 

Still, the words of that father can haunt us. Don’t they seem to reflect at times the situation of the struggling Church and even the faith of our own hearts? Don’t we see ourselves in that father?

 

The reality is that for many, faith is a work in progress. Because of our human nature, scarred and weakened by sin, the first acceptance of faith is itself a great gift. 

 

Many receive that gift almost naturally when they are born and baptized into a family of faith. They are then brought up in an atmosphere that encourages belief in God. But for others, the comforts of the world or simply the participation in a culture that does not seek God or think about the need for Him leaves them without any basis for faith.

 

Once faith in God is embraced at least in general terms, we face the challenge of the father in the Gospel. Do we embrace the fullness of the faith we have accepted? Put another way, do we really trust the promises of Jesus that He loves us and will strengthen and help us?

 

It is easy enough to acknowledge God and believe in Him when things are going tolerably well. If I get into a comfortable but good spiritual and moral way of living, if the family is going well, if the business and health are satisfactory, it is easy to say, like the father in Mark, “I do believe.” And we do mean that.

 

But that basic belief is challenged when difficulties begin to arise. Many faithful people today find it difficult to witness to their faith as our society makes secularism the philosophy of our time. Living the teaching of Christ, especially in areas of marriage, family and sexuality, can become a source of isolation and even martyrdom when the elites and the media ridicule and ostracize faithful practice.

 

Sometimes too, the God in whom we believe allows us to simply undergo the normal challenges of life. Those might be health crises or failures of business or finances.

 

At those moments, faith is tested. And with the test, faith can be deepened as we seek to patiently bear our cross and follow Jesus. But those moments are at times not without doubts. We ask if God really loves us and is with us.

 

Our prayer should be that of the father in Mark’s Gospel. Not just, “I do believe” but added to it, “Help my unbelief.” In that way, we push through doubts and fears so that our own faith is purified. We should share the father’s prayer, confident that Jesus will hear us as He did that man centuries ago.