The Kingdom of God is at Hand

In today's Gospel, Luke 11: 15-26, the crowd accuses Jesus of casting demons out by Beelzebul, by the devil himself. Jesus, unafraid of the crowd's badgering him, Jesus responds:  "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house." If Satan, therefore, is casting out Satan, if evil spirits are casting out evil spirit, they Satan's kingdom of evil is going to collapse. No kingdom attacking its own power, its own inhabitants and the work they do, will stand. However, Jesus says, if "it is by the finger of  God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."  

Each of us had good and evil spirits at work within us. We need to,  with God's assistance, discern between good and evil within, between urges to do good and those prompting/tempting us to engage in evil actions or to entertain unkind, deceitful, corrupt, depraved intentions by which we harm others and ourselves.  As we draw closer and closer to God, Satan becomes more cunning in his ways of tempting us to do what is wrong and hurtful. So, too, do we need to become more astute in recognizing Satan's depravity and deceitfulness. Remember, also, that God is always with us. The Spirit is always at work within us and within others providing us with the Wisdom to know good from evil and the ways these spirits function within our humanity.

May our eyes and hearts and ears, Lord, be evermore attentive to Your voice, the voice of Wisdom!

Evil Forces that Only Jesus Can Overpower

In today's Gospel, Mark 5: 1-20, Jesus and his disciples enter the territory of the Gerasenes. As soon as they got out of the boat, a demoniac approaches Jesus. "The man," Mark tells us, "had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him." When Jesus asked the evil spirit its name and commanded that it come out of the man, the evil spirit answered: "'Legion is my name. There are  many of us.'  And he pleaded earnestly with him  not to drive them away from that territory....Send us into the swine... And he let them. ...[T]he unclean spirits came out of the man and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned."

Within the world, within every species, within all of creation, including human beings, exist evil spirit and good spirits--forces that thwart or promote life, that encourage or discourage creative expressions and creative growth or that propel or block  us from achieving the potential and the perfection we are meant to achieve here on earth. Jesus had power over all that is evil in His day and in ours, in men and women in His day and in ours.  Jesus will bring out the good in us and destroy the  evil within us, just as he did for the demoniac.

Like the story in today's Gospel, we witness people who seem to be as out of control as the demonic.  Even nature seems out of control! Have Legions of evil spirits taken charge, as they did in the man who approached Jesus in today's Gospel? Only Jesus could help him; no human being was up to the task. Perhaps, today, we are in the same "boat," that is, that only Jesus can bring order into the chaos that exist all around us: in municipal, federal, ecclesiastical, familial  and world governing structures;  in our educational, healthcare, pharmaceutical,  financial systems and, yes, even the environment.

Like Jesus, you and I are created to do good and to face evil in this world, with God at our side. We are created to grow in the knowledge of God's creative powers at the very core of our being and the being of others and within all of creation.  God reveals His creative on-going, unconditional love for each of us in all that is.  That love for us is revealed in the animals and plants that share life with us here on earth, in the planetary and solar systems that, as part of God's plan,  sustain us here on earth. All of creation is interdependent for living life to the fall. Good as well as evil in any part of the world and in any part of creation impacts us. If evil takes possession of any part of creation--other human beings, ourselves, the animal or plant kingdom among us--that evil has an impact on all that exists, as did the presence of the demoniac in the Garasene territory at the time of Jesus.

Jesus' Compassion and Mercy

In today’s Gospel, Mark 5: 1-20, we read and reflect upon the story of the person tortured by a legion of evil spirits.  “The man,” Mark tells us, “had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.”  As soon as Jesus and his disciples approached the area where this man was roaming, Jesus commanded the evil spirits to come out of him.  The tormenting evil spirits begged Jesus  to let them stay in the region and be allowed to enter a herd of pigs  ”feeding on the hillside.”  Jesus allowed it.  Possessed of the legion of demons, the herd of 2000 pigs ran down the hill into the sea. All drowned.

The man freed of the evil that had taken possession of him wanted to stay with Jesus. Instead, Jesus asked him to “go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” The man followed Jesus’ recommendation. He returned to his family and to the people who were hurt by his behavior when he was under the torturous ways of evil spirits.   He “went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.”

This sounds like an incredible story. However, evil spirits are as active today as in Jesus’ time here on earth as the Son of Man, as is Jesus’ mercy and compassion.  Many people, today, neglect their children to engage in promiscuous behaviors or space out in their use of alcohol and drugs. Some men and women are “possessed” by  other addictions that destroy family life and corrode faithfulness to marriage vows.

You and I, from time to time, follow directions that do not come from the Holy Spirit. A streak of meanness or attitudes of hatred and bigotry, prejudice and arrogance may take possession of us.   Unforgiveness may grip our minds and hearts. Pride may hold sway over our actions.  Others may say of us: “He/she is simply impossible to reason with.” Or “He/she is so ornery.  Anger and selfishness dominates his/her thinking and behavior. I can hardly take it anymore! I don’t want to be around this person anymore.”

From what “demon” or “demons” do you and I need to be freed?  In what ways has Jesus healed us of addictions that threatened to destroy that which we once held sacred and led to broken relationships?  What “demons” has Jesus commanded to leave us? And to whom do we owe an apology for the ways we hurt them when tortured by “evil spirits” to which we were slaves?

Our Destiny: Written by the Hand of God

In today's first reading, Acts 18: 1-8, Paul encounters opposition in Athens and leaves for Corinth, where he meets a man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla, Jews who were expelled from Italy.  To this very day, people are discriminated against for various reasons.  Within our very nature both sin and holiness abide. Good and evil battle each other in our very thoughts and emotions and at times we follow the voices within us that direct us to treat others disrespectfully. At other times we listen to the good spirit within, the voice that flows from our God-self. 

The Spirit in Paul directs him to stop proclaiming the Good News to his fellow Jews and enter Gentile territory to bring the news of Jesus Christ to them.  He becomes known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. At times we might be unaware of our destiny, yet everything in our lives will direct us to carrying out God's plan for us, the purpose for which we were created. Many times we are directed to other tasks, other locations, other situations to be an instrument in the hands of God. We may say "I can't believe I did that or accomplished that. I didn't know I had it in me but with the grace of God I endured, I worked, I made a difference in the lives of others sent to me for reasons God alone knows.

Maya Angelou, a black woman who was the victim of rape and of racial discrimination.  She rose to her potential and made a great impact upon the world. She became a woman of inspiration, of courage and incredible talent shared with the entire world. Who would have thought that such was her destiny.  Everyone and perhaps the person/s considered the least among us in elementary, high school or college surprised us when we learn of the wonderful things that person did in building up God's kingdom in a world of discrimination, hatred and ignorance. Yes, in God's plan,  no one is left behind, neither  you or I. We have a purpose that will be achieved even if it is like the tree growing out of the side of a mountain because of Master is the One who triumphed over death itself.