Suspicious Minds | October 9, 2015

October 9, 2015

People will complain about anything! I mean for goodness sake, Jesus was driving out demons, freeing people’s bodies and souls from the grips of devils, and these people had the nerve to complain about it! Well, where is he getting his power? Satan or Beelzebub? So if driving out demons and healing people and performing miracles are not enough to win the hearts of people, what is enough? I fall into this trap myself sometimes. When I see someone doing good things in the world, I might question things like their real motive, where’s the money coming from or going to, and there has to be some sort of catch or glitch.

Suspicion puts up a great big wall between the world and us and while there are plenty of situations when the wall of suspicion is good and necessary, we definitely don’t want one of those situations to be recognizing the works of God in the world. Again it comes down to having an intimate relationship with him so that we never find ourselves mistaking Him, His work, His love, His grace for something that needs to be guarded against. Today’s gospel gives us an insurance policy when it tells us, “When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Unfortunately, Satan is the strong man fully armed and his palace is the world, but the good news is that Jesus is the one stronger than he and will overcome!! So, are you with him or against him? Do you gather or scatter?

The closer we come to Christ in our heart, mind, and will the more confident we will be in knowing exactly how to recognize him in the world. The disconcerting thing about Satan is that he is not ugly on the outside; otherwise no one would be attracted to him. That’s why it is so important to know Christ intimately. Watch this sweet video of how children recognize their mothers even with blindfolds on:  https://youtu.be/DRoqk_z2Lgg

I hope that we can all be as close to Christ as these children are to their mothers knowing their touch, their smell, their hands, their face, and their warmth. With that kind of intimacy, there will be no question about whether we are for Him or against Him and yes, the stronger man will overcome and YAY, we all win!!!!!

Reading 1 JL 1:13-15; 2:1-2

Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!
wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived
of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the LORD, your God,
and cry to the LORD!

Alas, the day!
for near is the day of the LORD,
and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,
a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,
a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,
nor will it be after them,
even to the years of distant generations.

Responsorial Psalm PS 9:2-3, 6 AND 16, 8-9

R. (9) The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.

Alleluia JN 12:31B-32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 11:15-26

When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
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?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”