What an interesting Gospel reading we have
today. The crowds have seen Jesus
perform many miracles. Yet, when they
see Jesus drive out a demon, they respond that Jesus must be able to do this
from some demonic power inside himself.
Jesus responds to them, saying: “For you say that it is by Beelzebul
that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do
your own people drive them out?”
Jesus challenges the crowd: “If Satan is divided
against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”
We can see in the reality of our world today that what Jesus says is
true: There are two kingdoms – the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of Satan.
Yes, whoever is not with Jesus is against him; whoever does not gather with him
scatters.
Jesus invites those of us who follow him to do
so completely and without compromise.
Our act of contrition in the sacrament of reconciliation states that we
“firmly resolve, with the help of God’s grace, to confess our sins, to do
penance & to amend our life.” This
is the theme of Luke’s gospel passage today: that we wholeheartedly follow
Jesus as his disciples.
Jesus expelled demons in today’s Gospel. How do we turn to God to expel those things
that are the demons in our own lives? We
cannot do this on our own – only with Jesus' help will our continuing process
of repentance and conversion to be successful.
For those who question the source of Jesus’
power and his authority to heal us and to rid us of the demons that inhibit us,
we should remember that our Lord calls us to put our trust in him, to have
faith even in those situations that we don’t completely understand. The crowds
in today’s Gospel story are very judgmental: We should acknowledge the presence
of God that can be in our lives and in the lives of others in so many different
ways, & not be so judgmental ourselves.
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