DAILY GOSPEL AND REFLECTION, SEPTEMBER 02, 2014 ( TUESDAY ) The Cure of a Demoniac Lk 4:31-37 31Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, 32and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. 33In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, 34“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. 36They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region. REFLECTION Be quiet! Come out of him! The struggle between good and evil has been going on since time immemorial. Out of his great love for us, God sends his message of salvation through the prophets and then through his Son even as Satan never stops trying to control our lives. And so each day we make a conscious effort to surrender ourselves to God and rely on him to do what we cannot do for ourselves. We open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and turn our life over to the care of God and the transforming power of his love. It is by God’s love that we free ourselves from the allure of demons. This is what the people witness in today’s Gospel passage: Jesus drawing out by a command the spirit of an unclean demon from an afflicted man. To this day the struggle continues. The power of love belongs to God and it is as strong as ever. Still, the willingness and the decision to allow this power to sanctify us are in our own hands. Losing hope and giving up is one way we give Satan power in our lives. Faced with failure and adversity, let us hold on to hope and turn to God who is near to all who call upon him (cf Ps 145:18).
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:57:01 +0000
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