People will complain about anything! 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. Accusation and suspicion are two weapons with which the enemy has infiltrated humanity. Don’t get me started on our political culture.
Suspicion and accusation put up a great big walls between us and the world 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.
Lastly, I love the image that Jesus gives us, “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” My dad was a baby magnet and the minute a baby came into our house he’d scoop them up and walk around our house that is literally covered in a million breakable things (not baby-proofed AT ALL!). He was the parents of a toddler’s biggest nightmare because he would take the baby’s finger and touch each expensive breakable item. He loved watching their face as they felt the smooth and shiny thing and he also loved giving their parents a slight heart attack. I loved watching my dad do this because he was so sweet and gentle as he held their little pointer finger in his and slowly touched each delicate piece. This is the image that comes to mind when Jesus says, “If it is by the finger of God.” He gently holds our finger in His hand and He allows us to touch the brokenhearted, the sick, the suffering, the lonely, the breakable, the impossible, the insurmountable, and the untouchable. His finger guides us to reach out for the ones that need Him the most if we allow Him to pick us up and show us. 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. What a beautiful picture to ponder today. It is well with my soul.
Reading 1 JL1:13-15; 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.
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.
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.
The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.
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."
"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."
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