Catching Sight of Jesus

"Unclean spirit, come out out of the man," Jesus was saying to a demoniac whom  He encountered in the territory of the Gerasenes (See Mark 5: 1-20).  This man lived "among the tombs  and no one could restrain him...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. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him....
"

How terrifying for anyone and for the demoniac himself!  Jesus was unafraid and approached him. As He got near to him, the demon in the man shouted:  "What have you do do with me, Jesus, Son of  the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me! ....He asked him, 'What is your name?' [The Devil] replied, 'Legion is my name. There are many of us.'" The legion of evil spirits, united in their desire to stay in the region and not be driven away, spoke through one of them:   "Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."  Jesus granted their request and the possessed pigs dashed down the hill and into the sea where they all drowned.

Jesus has power over Satan and all of his fellow devils. There are legions of them roaming the earth, seeking someone to devour us. Their last desire is to be confined to hell, where they will be sent at the end of the world along with their followers, those bent on doing evil and avoiding the good here on earth, those who deny Jesus or God's existence, who do not accept God's give of salvation, who do not call out to God for deliverance from the chains and shackles that bind them to wrongdoing, to deceitfulness, to corruption, to avarice, to hatred and divisiveness, to covetousness and abuse of any kind, who submerge themselves in the "pleasures" to which Satan lures them at the expense of others and their own demise from living wholesome lives pleasing to God.

May you and I cling to God, catch sight of Jesus, who, in fact, does not leave us out of His sight,
and beg to be freed from the chains and shackles that bind us to any kind of wrongdoing. May we seek God's deliverance, knowing that God is a warrior God, a God who is on our side and feared by Satan and his legion of helpers. Let us not be afraid to approach Jesus in the Eucharist, in the sacrament of Reconciliation, in private, communal and family prayer time, no matter how we may have bruised ourselves or others by our sinfulness.
.

The Lord Keeps Us Safe

In today's first reading, 1 Sam 17: 32-33, 37, 40-51, David offers to confront Goliath, a Philistine who is a threat to the nation of Israel.  Saul is hesitant and tells David that he is no match for this giant.  David insists, saying: "The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine."  Saul then offers him encouragement: "...[T]he Lord will be with  you!"  Goliath, seeing David, a mere youth, approaching him with staff, says to him: "Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?"  Goliath curses him and says:  "Come here to me, and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air and the beasts of this field."  David does not flinch. Relying upon the Lord, he is unafraid and says:  "...I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted. Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand....[F]or the battle is the Lord's."

Like for David, God has rescued you and me from "bears" and "lions" in our lives.  Some of these rescues we are aware of and others not.  God is a warrior who fights on our side against the enemies in our lives.  When we face the "Goliaths" in our  lives, it is God who goes to battle for us.  The "battle is the Lord's."

Do you, do I, have the faith and the confidence of David when we are up against situations which, without God's help, there is no way that we will come out on top?  Never for a moment, did David not believe that God would keep him safe or help him!  Do you, do I, believe that we are safe in winning battles against Satan, who certainly is stronger than we are? Upon whom do I, do you, seek help?

Today, the Lord confronted me in prayer about dealing with a situation without first bringing my concerns to Him and seeking deliverance from Him.  Consequently I fell into the pit of human weakness awaiting me and, in no uncertain terms, the Lord said to me through the Spirit within me:  "You did not come to me about your anger...That was the mistake that opened the pit into which  you fell....!"  The Lord cannot and will not help us resolve a problem that we keep to ourselves.

God Delights in Us: Do We Delight in God?

In the antiphon of today's liturgy we pray: "The Lord became my protector. He brought me out to a place of freedom; he saved me because he delighted in me" (cf. Ps 18 (17): 19-20). In the entrance of antiphon of tomorrows liturgy we pray: "You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook people's sins, to bring them to repentance and  you spare them, for you are the Lord our God" (Wis 11: 24 25, 27).

WOW!  What a kind God, a God of love and compassion, a generous God.  No way do I, or you, deserve God's protection or to be brought to a place of freedom. But that is our God!  He held nothing back to free us or protect us from the snares of Satan, a fallen angel, one who lost Paradise, was thrown out of heaven by St. Michael, the Archangel, and thus works tirelessly, cunningly and deceitfully to keep us from entrance into our heavenly home!  Our God, though, is a Warrior God, a powerful God, One far more powerful than Satan.  Like a mother bear protects her cubs, so, too, does God protect His children.  God delights in us, we pray in today's entrance antiphon. He will not lose us to Satan and hopefully you and I will truly embrace this free gift of salvation and, with God, let nothing come between us and God, let nothing separate us from God, our Savior!

Dancing with Abandon

"Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord," we pray in today's responsorial psalm.  My mind goes to today's first reading, in which King David went to Obededom to bring the Ark of God back to the City of David.  David is so excited that he "came dancing before the Lord with abandon," as mentioned in today's first reading, 2 Sam 6: 12b-15, 17-19.  Not too long ago, a little child, at the end of the Mass, danced throughout the entire closing song. I said to her later: "You were dancing with the Lord!"  Her response: "No, I was dancing with my daddy."  In the Scriptures, Jesus calls his Father "Abba," which translated means "daddy."  Who is this king of glory who dances in our midst? It is the Lord, our "Abba."  The Lord, as we pray in today's responsorial psalm, is "strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle." In what battle is God engaged? the battle of winning our affection, gaining our attention, drawing us to Himself!  God "dances" in out midst, engaging Satan who roams about the world seeking souls to devour. That is why God waltzes ahead of us, behind us, and along side us!  He is protecting us from Satan's snares! Our response is contained in today's Gospel Acclamation:  "Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom" that God is always with us!

The Wondrous Works of God

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 145, we praise the Lord for his wondrous works! These works are revealed to  us in both the Old and New Testaments.  In the first reading of today's liturgy from Romans 16:; 3-9, 16, 22-27, St. Paul tells us about all of the people who had been assisting him in spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection; in short, his dying to save us from eternal life and to strengthen us in being faithful to our God and Father in the spread of the faith.  In the responsorial psalm, Psalm 145,  we praise God for his greatness, for the splendor of His glorious majesty, and his wondrous works throughout the ages.  We ask for the grace that we will continue to give God thanks (the greatest prayer of thanksgiving is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the celebration of the Eucharist) and persevere in faithfully blessing the Lord by the good we do in building up the Kingdom, as Jesus did.  We pray, too, that we will "discourse of the glory of [God's] kingdom and speak of [God's] might."

God continues to bless us every day, providing us with the graces we need to be His disciples and spread the good news of salvation. This past week I had the privilege to teach a group of fifth graders about the call to holiness, a call given us at our baptism. The inspiration was given me to help the children see the call to holiness in very concrete ways in choosing good (love, truth, forgiveness, kindness, unselfishness,  generosity, obedience and many other virtuous behaviors) over evil (hatred, revenge, bullying, selfishness, stinginess, disobedience and other sinful ways). We spoke of being spiritual wrestlers, of being on God's team, wrestling with good and evil throughout our lives, as Satan persists in tempting us on a daily basis to choose evil over good. With God on our side, we will win the battle!, one day at a time!

"Stand Your Ground": God Fights for You

In today’s first reading, Exodus 14: 5-18, God frees the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt.  When the Egyptians realize that they have freed the Israelites, they relented and pursued them with force.  The Israelites, seeing the Egyptian’s military advancing, cry out in despair to the Lord and complained to Moses, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us?" Moses answers the people: “Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today.”

You and I, too, will see the victory the Lord will win for us today. All we need to do is stand firm in our faith.  God is the rock of our salvation, the ground of our being. Whatever threats are approaching us, as in the case of the Israelites, “The Lord himself will fight for..[you and me]; …[you and I] have only to keep still.”

How difficult it is for me, and maybe for you,  “to keep still,” to trust in the Lord.  The “powers” or the weaknesses, the “spiritual cancers,”  the spiritual “dis-eases” that threaten my faith and trust in the Lord are as stubborn as were the Egyptians in pursuit of the Israelites. And like the Israelites, I sometimes would rather continue being their slave,  “feeding” and “watering” the “cancers,” the “dis-eases” within my being than to “stand…[my] ground,” trusting in the Lord.  God have mercy!