SAINT NICHOLAS

Byzantine Catholic Church
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23300 King Drive, Clinton Township, MI 48035   *   +1-586-791-1052   *   stnicksbyzantine@yahoo.com

        A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought you my son who is possessed by a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Wherever it seizes him, it flings him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”

        Jesus said to them in reply, “O unbelieving generation, how much longer shall I remain with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” When they brought the boy to him, the spirit saw him and immediately threw the child into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

        Jesus asked the father, “How long has the boy been in this condition?” “From childhood,” he replied. “It has often tried to kill him by throwing him into a fire or into water. If it is possible for you to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus answered, “If it is possible! All things are possible for one who has faith.” Immediately, the father of the child cried out, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.”

      When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering around them, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and mute spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shrieking and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out of him. He lay there like a corpse, so that many remarked, “He is dead.” But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

      When he went indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why were we not able to cast it out?” He answered, “This kind cannot be driven out except by prayer and by fasting. ”They proceeded from there and began to journey through Galilee, but Jesus did not want anyone to know about it because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man will be handed over into the power of men. They will kill him, and three days after being killed he will rise.”

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“… you should make every effort to supplement

your faith with virtue,

and virtue with knowledge,

and knowledge with self-control,

and self-control with endurance,

and endurance with piety,

and piety with mutual affection,

and mutual affection with love.”

(2 Peter 1:2-7)