Ecclesiasticus 1:1-10 / Mark 9:14-29
The relationship between a master and a disciple is like that between a father and a son.
The master imparts all he knows to the disciple and the disciple assimilates all he can from the master.
Yet, just as there are times when the son thinks he knows better than the father, the disciple will also be tempted to think that he is better than the master.
Things only become clear, maybe even painfully clear, when the truth is shown in the challenges of life.
In today's gospel, we hear scorching words from Jesus to His disciples: How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you?
A man had brought his son to his disciples to be delivered of an unclean spirit of dumbness but they were unable to.
To make matters more embarrassing, His disciples ended up arguing with some scribes. So instead of healing, the disciples got engaged in arguing.
Hence when Jesus arrived and asked why they were arguing, they didn't respond, maybe because they knew they had detracted and lost focus on what Jesus would have done.
Later when they had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately as to why they were unable to cast that unclean spirit out.
The answer Jesus gave would certainly make the disciples, as well as us, do some serious thinking. Jesus said: This is the kind that can only be driven out by prayer.
Indeed, without prayer, the disciple can never be like the master. But with prayer, the disciple will gain the wisdom of the master.
As the 1st reading puts it: All wisdom is from the Lord ... and He conveyed her to those who love Him. If we are serious about learning from Jesus our Master, then we need to be serious in prayer.