Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Pondering Mark 16:17-18

The words from Mark's Gospel (Mark 16:17-18) seemed more difficult to comprehend that usual today, coming on the heels of the discouraging news concerning Dylan. It seemed there were two options with respect to the latter: either it isn't God's will at this time to heal him or the faith and sacrifice of St. Blog's was lacking. There seems a hierarchical element to prayer - Jesus' prayer was more effective than the apostles, the apostles more than saints (the apostles raised the dead) and the saints more than us. I went to my beloved commentaries.

First the verses:

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

The Ignatius Study Bible - the Gospel of Mark - shrunk from the question.

Orchard's "Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture" didn't flinch:

When sending the Apostles on a temporary mission in Palestine, Christ gave them power to cast out demons in order to strengthen the appeal of their preaching. Now he promises to believers miraculous signs to guarantee the truth and divine origin of the doctrine which they had accepted. The promise is made to the community of the faithful rather than to each individual believer. In the early days of the Church, possibly becuase of a greater need for extraordinary signs in order to move a skeptical and hostile world to which the Gospel and Church were still new, some of these manifestations of miraculous power were more frequent than in later times. But Christ's promise is not limited to a particular period. In every age miracles have given proof that Christ abides with the Church.

From the Catena Aurea:

St. Gregory: Are we then without faith because we cannot do these signs? Nay, but these things were necessary in the beginning of the Church, for the faith of believers was to be nourished by miracles, that it might increase. Thus we also, when we plant groves, pour water upon them, until we see that they have grown strong in the earth; but when once they have firmly fixed their roots, we leave off irrigating them. These signs and miracles have other things which we ought to consider more minutely. For Holy Church does every day in spirit what then the Apostles did in body.

I tend to make the mistake of assuming universal applications to everything in the Gospels, when sometimes passages are meant merely for the Apostles ears. Similar are some of the predictions that pre-figure the catastrophe (for the Jews) in 70AD.