The Finger Of God | March 3, 2016

March 3, 2016

Even if you have never seen the Sistine Chapel in person, I’m sure you can picture the centerpiece that features God and Adam reaching their fingers toward one another, longing for that ultimate connection, that intimate touch that unites man and the divine. It is that reaching for our Beloved that sings us awake everyday, and cradles us as we dream every night. There is that iconic scene in the movie E.T. when Elliot cuts himself and E.T. reaches his glowing finger toward Elliot’s wound, touching it tenderly, simply saying, “Ouch”, and the bleeding stops immediately. God is constantly reaching toward us with his light to touch our ouches, to heal us, and to be with us.

In today’s gospel Jesus was in the process of driving out a demon from a man that was mute. I wonder what this healing looked like. Perhaps he touched his finger to the lips of the mute man and maybe just maybe light accompanied it like in E.T. When the mute man spoke to the crowd, I wonder if his voice sounded groggy or clear, loud or soft, low or high, with an accent or not? These kinds of miracles were so spectacular to the ancient Jews and that is precisely why they stirred up doubt and suspicion. It says that the crowds were amazed, but then they thought it must be by the hand of Satan because who else could be in command of demons. They were constantly seeking signs from heaven and not looking at the miraculous directly in front of them. Raise your hand if you’ve missed a significant moment because of doubt and suspicion. One of Satan’s strategies is to divide people and Jesus makes that clear in the story, “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?” The statement “too good to be true” might have been at the forefront of their minds and quite honestly if you and I were witnesses to such a spectacular event, we might also think the same. Let’s replace that with “too good, it has to be true.”

We have a hard time accepting the miraculous and try to explain such things with scientific reasons, or circumstance, or luck, or coincidence, yet Jesus tells us plainly, “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus is the manifestation of that centerpiece of the Sistine Chapel and the finger of God becomes the finger of the Son of Man. That finger is the one that touched the mute man, drove out the demon, and restored his voice. That same finger pokes our ribs and tickles the joy out of us, wipes the tear from our cheek when we are sad, interlocks with our own fingers when we need companionship, embraces us when we need to be held, touches our lips when we need to sing, washes our feet when we feel the most sinful, pulls the scales away from our eyes when we can’t see, and that same finger drives out our own demons one by one as he points and calls their name.

God is constantly reaching toward us with his light to touch our ouches, to heal us, and to be with us. Pay attention to his touch today and perhaps reach your own finger back to him so that interlocked with his grace, you may shine, you may burn bright, and your ouches can be covered in light.

Reading 1 JER 7:23-28

Thus says the LORD: 
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.

Responsorial Psalm PS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Verse Before The Gospel JL 2:12-13

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
for I am gracious and merciful.

Gospel LK 11:14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them 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.”