demon

REFLECTION ON THE DAILY GOSPEL 28 SEPTEMBER 2013

/ Michael J. Cunningham / 1 Comment

Today’s Gospel is a short one, at least in terms of words. But, like life, often the smallest verses have the greatest meaning and mystery associated with them. Let us read it again.

While they were all amazed at his every deed, he said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

So what does all that mean? Right from the top, the disciples continued to be amazed at the miracles that Jesus is working.

Luke has just finished describing the healing of a boy possessed by a demon and they are in awe. Coming off the transfiguration, where Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah, this only brings them closer to believing in him.

However, Jesus shakes them by repeating for a second time his forthcoming passion. They do not understand what he is talking about.

They are also a little stunned because he has warned them about the conditions for discipleship a few verses earlier.

Then he said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

If you were a disciple at that time it sounds like there is a lot of suffering to come, and they were not sure if they could handle it.

We know now that Jesus was taking about eternal life after the resurrection. But at the time the apostles would not have understood this as the resurrection was still to come along with the Holy Spirit that would breadth the grace of God into them and their missions.

So basically they were scared to question him on this further.

We have some of the same reactions in life ourselves. When we are faced with challenges, do we sometimes just turn a “deaf ear” to them.

Hoping they will go away, like a debt collector, a bad cold or even worst. Sometimes it is more serious than that, such as our relationships with others.

We might neglect them or hope that the other person will apologize first. Waiting to do something is a decision too. Something we often forget.

Jesus knew what was coming, and he was facing up to it fully, and trying to get the disciples to do the same.

He knew in advance the trials that were going to befall them after his crucifixion and resurrection. And the disciples they did not want to be reminded that “they have to pick up their cross as well”.

It takes a lot of strength to face up to death. At the time, the apostles knew that Jesus was a special man, but most (with the exception of Peter) had not make the full connection. That Jesus was God and that He was the Messiah.

That revelation was to come later for them, even after the resurrection, the disciples were still basically scared for their own lives, and it wasn’t until Pentecost, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the Upper room that they truly had “knowledge and understanding” of God and his plan for their lives.

So what seems like a few small words in today’s Gospel balloons out to the mystery of the Trinity and the wondrous power and awesome love God has for us.

Giving us His son in death and resurrection, giving us new life every time the sacrifice is made. Each time we partake of the Eucharist we are once again renewed with untold graces. These are the infused graces that reach into the deepest elements of our soul. Refreshing and enriching our faith and love for Jesus.

When we see the importance of time in Salvation history in Jesus’s ministry from his crucifixion and resurrection, we get a perspective of God’s long-term plan and love for us.

Before time began, there was ALWAYS the three persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is eternal, so our own concept of time is irrelevant. God was, is and always will be as the Catechism states. CCC 205 “He is the God who, from beyond space and time, can do this and wills to do it, the God who will put his almighty power to work for this plan.”

So I will repeat … God the Father was always there, so was God the Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

All of this preplanned by God, by God the Father in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, God the Son in the New Testament and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity.

So the amazing mystery of the Trinity is bound up in these few warning lines to the disciples in the Gospel today.

Now we have more than 2000 years of tradition and celebration of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to help us live out our faith with fidelity.

We have the truth of his presence in the Eucharist nourishing our souls, and we have the gifts and presence of the Holy Spirit to support and sustain us through the times when we have our own Cross to bear.

At the end of the day, it all returns to God’s intention for us. His saving grace, his unlimited love.

We can meditate on this call to us in his short poem called Love Sustains.

 

Love; a life sustaining grace,

Not visible, but obvious,

inexpensive, yet priceless,

unlimited, though often withheld.

Sustain your life today. Love someone.

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 7 MARCH 2013

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 240

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.

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.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 12 OCTOBER 2012

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 465

Reading 1 Gal 3:7-14

Brothers and sisters:
Realize that it is those who have faith
who are children of Abraham.
Scripture, which saw in advance that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith,
foretold the good news to Abraham, saying,
Through you shall all the nations be blessed.
Consequently, those who have faith are blessed
along with Abraham who had faith.
For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse;
for it is written, Cursed be everyone
who does not persevere in doing all the things
written in the book of the law.
And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear,
for the one who is righteous by faith will live.
But the law does not depend on faith;
rather, the one who does these things will live by them.
Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written, Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,
that the blessing of Abraham might be extended
to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,
so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
He has given food to those who fear him;
he will forever be mindful of his covenant.
He has made known to his people the power of his works,
giving them the inheritance of the nations.
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

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.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.