James 3:13-18 / Mark 9:14-29
If we know what prayer really is, then we would also know that a Christian who does not pray cannot be called a Christian.
Because a Christian is a person whose life is in union with Christ. As St. Paul would say, "It is not I who live but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20)
So prayer is nothing less than a time of deep union with Jesus. Prayer is not just a moment with Jesus and then we go back to our old self of sin.
Certainly, prayer must bear fruits of holiness in our lives, where we think and act like Jesus, and like what the 1st reading said, it also makes for peace and is kindly and considerate and full of compassion.
Without prayer, then we will be overrun by the bitterness of jealousy, a self-seeking ambition that covers up the truth with lies, and we will be the cause of disharmony.
In the gospel, the disciples were arguing with some scribes and a crowd had gathered to watch the commotion.
They were arguing about a child who was possessed with an evil spirit, but the disciples were unable to cast it out, leaving the father of the child desperate.
Whatever the argument between the disciples and the scribes was, it didn't resolve anything and in fact the situation was becoming embarrassingly ridiculous. Until Jesus came into the scene.
When the disciples asked Jesus privately why they were unable to cast out that evil spirit, Jesus gave a short but thought-provoking answer - This is the kind that can only be driven out by prayer.
That should make the disciples think about how they are praying. That should also make us think about how we are praying.
May we enter into a deeper union with Jesus in prayer, and may it make us be more like Jesus in our lives.