"They went off and...drove out many demons"

In today's Gospel, Mark 6: 7-13, Jesus sends the twelve apostles out two by two to cast out unclean spirits of mind and body and instructs them to "take nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no money in their belts....So they went off and...drove out many demons, and... anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them." They also preached repentance on this journey.   The work the apostles did they did in Jesus' name and by the authority God gave them through His Son.

It is no different for you and me!  By our baptism, we, too, were sent out to cast out demons of hatred, jealousy, envy, covetousness, pride, lust and other demons that spring from these sinful forces within human  nature.  We are asked to sow seeds that bear fruit into eternal life.Am I, are you, doing so?  Or are we going along with the crowd that cries for vengeance and are driven by a thirst for power and control over others, including the control exhibited by those who resort to raping and sexually assaulting women and children. Are we among those whose drive is to be richer than anyone else or who boast of their accomplishments as though any good they might have done was done without God? Are we part of the crowd with no backbone when it comes to standing up for what is right and who make fun of those who are men and women of integrity?

Sadly, that is what we see so often on the nightly news. The media focuses mostly, but not all, on crime, on persons clamoring for power and control, persons who seem to be consumed by jealousy, pride, lust, hatred, vindictiveness, bigotry, misogynistic forces and so much more that is contrary to the Gospel.  Lawlessness, it seems, is now the norm and vindicating and applauding the criminal the new normal. As Christians, we are called to challenge this development and stand up for what is right, even if everyone around us does otherwise.

We do not need to be like the persons who go along with the crowd that exhibits anti-Christian values and cower in the face of opposition, abandoning truth!   God has given us, in baptism, the power to resist Satan's lies! As Christians, we have the power of the resurrection within us as we died and rose with Christ in the waters of baptism!  We can rise above fear and resist satanic forces in Jesus' name.  Yes, with the apostles, we can drive out demons in Jesus' name and through power given us by Jesus. This task begins with ourselves!