October 8, Friday

TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

JESUS, STRONGER THAN EVIL

      Judgment. It is an uneasy word. A discomforting possibility. Will it be a discomforting reality? The answer lies in us. The answer lies in our world. Our options are clear. We are facing the evil in ourselves and in the world. In a way we judge ourselves, we have to take a stand in the face of evil, in word and deed. And as believers we must also be conscious of our role of intercession, mediation, and reconciliation.

      We see the mystery of evil alive also in the gospel. There are people, also religious people, who see the good works Jesus does, the signs that God’s kingdom is coming and yet do not accept him, reject him or remain neutral. Who is this man? Do we accept him as our Savior? The more we share his life and become familiar with him, the more we will recognize that he is the Son of God, our friend, our Savior. Happy the eyes that see. And he overcomes evil, also in us.

 

First Reading: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2

And also you priests,
    put on your robes and join the outcry.
You who lead people in worship,
    lead them in lament.
Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks,
    you servants of my God.
Nothing’s going on in the place of worship,
    no offerings, no prayers—nothing.
Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting,
    get the leaders together,
Round up everyone in the country.
    Get them into God’s Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.

What a day! Doomsday!
    God’s Judgment Day has come.
The Strong God has arrived.
    This is serious business!

Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
    Trumpet the alarm on my holy mountain!
Shake the country up!
    God’s Judgment’s on its way—the Day’s almost here!
A black day! A Doomsday!
    Clouds with no silver lining!
Like dawn light moving over the mountains,
    a huge army is coming.
There’s never been anything like it
    and never will be again.
Wildfire burns everything before this army
    and fire licks up everything in its wake.

 

Gospel: Luke 11:15-26

            Jesus delivered a man from a demon that had kept him speechless. The demon gone, the man started talking a blue streak, taking the crowd by complete surprise. But some from the crowd were cynical. “Black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.” Others were skeptical, waiting around for him to prove himself with a spectacular miracle.

Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Any country in civil war for very long is wasted. A constantly squabbling family falls to pieces. If Satan cancels Satan, is there any Satan left? You accuse me of ganging up with the Devil, the prince of demons, to cast out demons, but if you’re slinging devil mud at me, calling me a devil who kicks out devils, doesn’t the same mud stick to your own exorcists? But if it’s God’s finger I’m pointing that sends the demons on their way, then God’s kingdom is here for sure.

“When a strong man, armed to the teeth, stands guard in his front yard, his property is safe and sound. But what if a stronger man comes along with superior weapons? Then he’s beaten at his own game, the arsenal that gave him such confidence hauled off, and his precious possessions plundered.

“This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.

“When a corrupting spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone, it says, ‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return, it finds the person swept and dusted, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits dirtier than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse than if he’d never gotten cleaned up in the first place.”

 

Prayer

Father of all people,
we are recalcitrant sons and daughters.
Are we your children or not?
God, give us love, give us peace,
that your judgment may not condemn us,
that you may not come to us
when we are not prepared.
God, when we have messed up everything,
keep sending us again and again your Son
to put things straight,
for we cannot do without him,
for he is the Lord and Savior of the world
now and for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

One who is not with me is against me
Amazement in the Gospel does not always lead to faith. People are amazed to see Jesus liberate a dumb man from the evil power that prevented him from speaking. But, rather than seeing the clear intervention of God’s saving power, they accuse Jesus relying on the power of evil spirits to perform the healings. The evil power on the man prevented him from speaking.
As Christians, many of us can suffer from the same evil influence when we refuse or are afraid to acknowledge openly our Christian faith. We hide and we remain silent, especially when the values we hold are attacked or ridiculed. Once liberated, the man could speak and he did so, much to the amazement of the crowd. Let us, too, pray for this gift of speech, to be able to say the right thing at the right time.
In spite of the extraordinary signs that Jesus performed in the helpless lives of the sick, the poor and the sinners, including the one that has just caused such astonishment among the people – his enemies refused to see the hand of God working. The mute man could be healed by Jesus, because his speech impairment was real. But, his enemies although claim to have sight, but pretend to be blind. “There is none so blind as those who refuse to see.”
There is a clear gap between the leaders and the people here. While the leaders keep asking Jesus for his credentials, the people are shown as constantly praising and thanking God for all that is being done among them by Jesus. The devil is strong and it afflicts the people. But before Jesus, the Son of God, the powers of the devil cannot stand anymore, because Jesus is ‘the stronger one.’ He liberates his people from the afflictions of the evil powers.
But, it is up to each person to make his choices. God will not force anyone to stand on the side of God. It is our personal choice. “The man who is not with me is against me, and the man who does not gather with me scatters.” There can be no neutrality where Jesus is concerned. We have to make our choice – for him or against. Not to choose is itself a choice – against him. Compare this with the similar but actually quite different saying with one we saw earlier in chapter 9. “Anyone who is not against you is for you”.
This was in the context of the Apostle John complaining that he saw a man cast out demons in Jesus’ name. As far as that nameless person was doing the work of Jesus and doing it in Jesus’ name, he was with Jesus. It is time for us to make our choice.

 

Video available on Youtube: One who is not with me is against me