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Gospel text
Mk 9,14-29
Mk 9,14-29
A man answered him from the crowd, «Master, I brought my son to you for he has a dumb spirit. Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not» (…). Jesus (…) ordered the evil spirit, «Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you: Leave the boy and never enter him again». The evil spirit shook and convulsed the boy and with a terrible shriek came out.
Gospel's Commentary
Today the feast of Saint Peter Damian (1007–1072), we remember one of the great reformers of the Church in the Middle Ages. He was born in Ravenna (Italy) into a humble family and was orphaned at a young age. He studied with brilliance and gained great fame as a teacher and jurist. Moved by the desire for a purer and closer life with God, he left the world and retired to the monastery of Fonte Avellana, where he embraced austerity and prayer.
He promoted a rigorous monastic life based on penance, silence, and the reading of Sacred Scripture. He was also a fine theologian, deeply in love with the Cross of Christ. Soon he became an advisor to popes and bishops, helping with firmness and humility in the reform of the clergy and in the fight against the abuses of his time. He was appointed cardinal and bishop of Ostia.
—Saint Peter Damian teaches that every reform —personal or ecclesial— begins in the heart. True holiness is born from the inner silence where God transforms the soul.