"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!

The Challenge to Stand Up for Truth

The Gospel of today, Mt 14: 1-2, presents the story of the murder of John the Baptist, who Herod wanted killed ultimately because he confronted him on taking his brother’s wife as his own, committing adultery with her.  The story is atrocious, as his wife’s daughter ‘s emotional hold on Herod leads to him ordering John the Baptist’s murder at the daughter’s request. The daughter is responding to her mother’s evil motive of doing away with John the Baptist, as well.  All are bound up in each other’s narcissistic, pride-driven, emotionally blinding intrigues.   Herod knows he is doing wrong but is too weak to acknowledge his rashness in promising his wife’s daughter anything she asked for—that is how taken up he was her dancing at his birthday party.  One sin leads to another and another and another.

Who would I have been in that crowd, as a participant in that party? Would I have stood up and challenged Herod? Would I have confronted Herodias and her daughter? Or would I have simply gone along with what was happening, too frightened of the consequences of standing up for truth and justice?

Lord, may I have the wisdom and the strength to step aside when emotions blind me from acting rationally and standing up for truth and justice.

Good being challenged

In today's Gospel, Luke 11:15-26, the crowd accuses Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons. Jesus comes back with: "If I drive out demons by Beelzebub,by whom do your own people drive them out (Luke 11: 19)?  We know that Satan will not prevail and that Jesus will cast Satan out of existence.  Just as Jesus, while he walked this earth and confronted injustices of all kinds, was tested by crowds who challenged the source of His work, so, too, will we be tested and challenged by others who are threatened by the good we do and by who we are.  We need to hold fast to our faith, as, in today's first reading, Gal. 3: 7-17, Abraham held fast to his faith. He did not succumb to idolatry, to the evil around him.  He trusted God even to the point of sacrificing his son--a practice by the pagan nations of his time. God did not sanction this pagan practice. So when Abraham was about to follow this practice, God intervened and, with power, commanded Abraham not lay a hand on the boy.  Isaac lived!  Truth prevailed. There are things going on today that God does not sanction either--things Jesus challenged in his own culture and for which he was put to death--his ways, his truth threatened the powers that reigned during his time here on earth. There are truths today that threaten powers that be. The truth  that comes from the Spirit of God will prevail in the long run, however.  All evil will be put to death, even evil disguised as a good, will be crushed.