Aga kui Jeesus nägi, et rahvahulk kokku jookseb, sõitles ta rüvedat vaimu: "Sina keeletu ja kurt vaim, ma käsin sind, mine temast välja ja ära tule kunagi enam tema sisse!" Ja vaim läks välja kisendades ja teda üha raputades ning poiss jäi otsekui surnuks, nii et paljud ütlesid, et ta on surnud. Aga Jeesus võttis poisi käest kinni, tõstis ta üles, ja poiss tõusis püsti. Ja kui nad olid koju tulnud, küsisid ta jüngrid temalt omavahel olles: "Miks meie ei suutnud seda välja ajada?" Ja Jeesus ütles neile: "See tõug ei lähe välja millegi muu kui palvega." Mk 9:14-29
Just because we discover how fragile we are is no reason to run away from God. What we must do is to attack our defects, precisely because we know that God trusts us.
THE MUTE DEVIL
Ja kui nad tulid jüngrite juurde, nägid nad suurt rahvahulka nende ümber ja kirjatundjaid jüngritega vaidlemas. Niipea kui rahvahulk Jeesust nägi, olid nad kõik väga hämmastunud, jooksid tema juurde ja tervitasid teda. Ja Jeesus küsis neilt: "Miks te vaidlete nendega?" Keegi rahva hulgast vastas talle: "Õpetaja, ma tõin sinu juurde oma poja, kellel on keeletu vaim, ja kus tahes see teda tabab, paiskab see ta maha ja siis mu poeg ajab vahtu suust ja kiristab hambaid ja kangestub. Ja ma ütlesin su jüngritele, et nad ajaksid selle välja, ent nad
ei suutnud." Aga tema vastas neile: "Oh uskmatu sugupõlv! Kui kaua ma pean teie juures olema? Kui kaua tuleb mul teiega kannatlik olla? Tooge ta minu juurde!" Ja nad tõid ta Jeesuse juurde ja Jeesust nähes raputas vaim kohe poissi ja poiss kukkus maha ja vähkres vahtu suust ajades. Ja Jeesus küsis tema isalt: "Kui kaua see juba temaga nõnda on?" Aga tema ütles: "Lapsest saadik, ja see vaim on teda sageli visanud ka tulle ja vette, et teda hukata. Aga kui sa midagi võid - tunne meile kaasa ja aita meid!" Aga Jeesus ütles talle: "Sa ütled: Kui sa võid! Kõik on võimalik sellele, kes usub." Otsekohe hüüdis lapse isa: "Ma usun, aita mind mu uskmatuses!" Aga kui Jeesus nägi, et rahvahulk kokku jookseb, sõitles ta rüvedat vaimu: "Sina keeletu ja kurt vaim, ma käsin sind, mine temast välja ja ära tule kunagi enam tema sisse!" Ja vaim läks välja kisendades ja teda üha raputades ning poiss jäi otsekui surnuks, nii et paljud ütlesid, et ta on surnud. Aga Jeesus võttis poisi käest kinni, tõstis ta üles, ja poiss tõusis püsti.
Ja kui nad olid koju tulnud, küsisid ta jüngrid temalt omavahel olles: "Miks meie ei suutnud seda välja ajada?" Ja Jeesus ütles neile: "See tõug ei lähe välja millegi muu kui palvega." Mk 9:14-29
Just because we discover how fragile we are is no reason to run away from God. What we must do is to attack our defects, precisely because we know that God trusts us.
How shall we be able to overcome our meanness? Let me make the point again because it is so important: by being humble and by being sincere in spiritual direction and in the Sacrament of Penance. Go to those who direct your souls with your hearts open wide. Do not close your hearts, for if the dumb devil gets in, it is very difficult to get rid of him.
Forgive me for insisting on these points, but I believe it is absolutely necessary for you to have deeply impressed on your minds the fact that humility, together with its immediate consequence, sincerity; are the thread which links the other means together. These two virtues act as a foundation on which a solid victory can be built. If the dumb devil gets inside a soul, he ruins everything. On the other hand, if he is cast out immediately, everything turns out well; we are happy and life goes forward properly. Let us always be brutally sincere, but in a good mannered way.
I want one thing to be clear: I am not as worried about the heart or the flesh as I am about pride. Be humble. If ever you think you are completely and utterly right, you are not right at all. Go to spiritual direction with your soul wide open. Don't close it because, I repeat, the dumb devil will get in, and it is difficult to get him out again.
Remember the poor boy who was possessed by a devil, and the disciples were unable to set him free. Only Our Lord could free him, by prayer and fasting. On that occasion the Master worked three miracles. The first enabled the boy to hear because, when the dumb devil gets control, the soul refuses to listen. The second made him speak, and the third expelled the devil.
Tell first what you would not like to be known. Down with the dumb devil! By turning some small matter over and over in your mind, you will make it snowball into something big, with you trapped inside. What's the point of doing that? Open up your soul! I promise that you will be happy, that is faithful to your Christian way, if you are sincere. Clarity and simplicity: they are absolutely necessary dispositions. We have to open up our souls completely, so that the sun of God and the charity of Love can enter in.
It is not necessarily bad will that prevents people from being utterly sincere. Sometimes they may simply have an erroneous conscience. Some people have so formed, or rather deformed, their consciences that they think their dumbness, their lack of simplicity, is something good. They think it is good to say nothing. This can even happen to people who have received an excellent training and know the things of God. This may indeed be what is convincing them that they should not speak out. But they are wrong. Sincerity is a must, always. There are no valid excuses, no matter how good they seem (Friends of God 187-189).
Just because we discover how fragile we are is no reason to run away from God. What we must do is to attack our defects, precisely because we know that God trusts us.
THE MUTE DEVIL
Ja kui nad tulid jüngrite juurde, nägid nad suurt rahvahulka nende ümber ja kirjatundjaid jüngritega vaidlemas. Niipea kui rahvahulk Jeesust nägi, olid nad kõik väga hämmastunud, jooksid tema juurde ja tervitasid teda. Ja Jeesus küsis neilt: "Miks te vaidlete nendega?" Keegi rahva hulgast vastas talle: "Õpetaja, ma tõin sinu juurde oma poja, kellel on keeletu vaim, ja kus tahes see teda tabab, paiskab see ta maha ja siis mu poeg ajab vahtu suust ja kiristab hambaid ja kangestub. Ja ma ütlesin su jüngritele, et nad ajaksid selle välja, ent nad
ei suutnud." Aga tema vastas neile: "Oh uskmatu sugupõlv! Kui kaua ma pean teie juures olema? Kui kaua tuleb mul teiega kannatlik olla? Tooge ta minu juurde!" Ja nad tõid ta Jeesuse juurde ja Jeesust nähes raputas vaim kohe poissi ja poiss kukkus maha ja vähkres vahtu suust ajades. Ja Jeesus küsis tema isalt: "Kui kaua see juba temaga nõnda on?" Aga tema ütles: "Lapsest saadik, ja see vaim on teda sageli visanud ka tulle ja vette, et teda hukata. Aga kui sa midagi võid - tunne meile kaasa ja aita meid!" Aga Jeesus ütles talle: "Sa ütled: Kui sa võid! Kõik on võimalik sellele, kes usub." Otsekohe hüüdis lapse isa: "Ma usun, aita mind mu uskmatuses!" Aga kui Jeesus nägi, et rahvahulk kokku jookseb, sõitles ta rüvedat vaimu: "Sina keeletu ja kurt vaim, ma käsin sind, mine temast välja ja ära tule kunagi enam tema sisse!" Ja vaim läks välja kisendades ja teda üha raputades ning poiss jäi otsekui surnuks, nii et paljud ütlesid, et ta on surnud. Aga Jeesus võttis poisi käest kinni, tõstis ta üles, ja poiss tõusis püsti.
Ja kui nad olid koju tulnud, küsisid ta jüngrid temalt omavahel olles: "Miks meie ei suutnud seda välja ajada?" Ja Jeesus ütles neile: "See tõug ei lähe välja millegi muu kui palvega." Mk 9:14-29
Just because we discover how fragile we are is no reason to run away from God. What we must do is to attack our defects, precisely because we know that God trusts us.
How shall we be able to overcome our meanness? Let me make the point again because it is so important: by being humble and by being sincere in spiritual direction and in the Sacrament of Penance. Go to those who direct your souls with your hearts open wide. Do not close your hearts, for if the dumb devil gets in, it is very difficult to get rid of him.
Forgive me for insisting on these points, but I believe it is absolutely necessary for you to have deeply impressed on your minds the fact that humility, together with its immediate consequence, sincerity; are the thread which links the other means together. These two virtues act as a foundation on which a solid victory can be built. If the dumb devil gets inside a soul, he ruins everything. On the other hand, if he is cast out immediately, everything turns out well; we are happy and life goes forward properly. Let us always be brutally sincere, but in a good mannered way.
I want one thing to be clear: I am not as worried about the heart or the flesh as I am about pride. Be humble. If ever you think you are completely and utterly right, you are not right at all. Go to spiritual direction with your soul wide open. Don't close it because, I repeat, the dumb devil will get in, and it is difficult to get him out again.
Remember the poor boy who was possessed by a devil, and the disciples were unable to set him free. Only Our Lord could free him, by prayer and fasting. On that occasion the Master worked three miracles. The first enabled the boy to hear because, when the dumb devil gets control, the soul refuses to listen. The second made him speak, and the third expelled the devil.
Tell first what you would not like to be known. Down with the dumb devil! By turning some small matter over and over in your mind, you will make it snowball into something big, with you trapped inside. What's the point of doing that? Open up your soul! I promise that you will be happy, that is faithful to your Christian way, if you are sincere. Clarity and simplicity: they are absolutely necessary dispositions. We have to open up our souls completely, so that the sun of God and the charity of Love can enter in.
It is not necessarily bad will that prevents people from being utterly sincere. Sometimes they may simply have an erroneous conscience. Some people have so formed, or rather deformed, their consciences that they think their dumbness, their lack of simplicity, is something good. They think it is good to say nothing. This can even happen to people who have received an excellent training and know the things of God. This may indeed be what is convincing them that they should not speak out. But they are wrong. Sincerity is a must, always. There are no valid excuses, no matter how good they seem (Friends of God 187-189).