Gospel: Luke
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.
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Reflection:
Do you
believe in Jesus as your Lord and savior? In our gospel for today, after
casting out the demon from a man Jesus was accused to be one with the demons.
They obviously did not believe in Jesus as their Lord and savior. They also
can’t believe that Jesus is capable of doing this miracle with good intentions
in His heart. Otherwise they would have not accused Him as one with the demons.
Who is one
with the demons? Is it Jesus or the ones who refuse to believe in Him? There
are only to options that we have in this world to believe in Jesus or not to
believe in Jesus. To believe means that we should walk the path of Jesus for we
can’t say that we believe yet we don’t walk the path of Jesus. Those who don’t
believe are those who are vulnerable to the company and possession of the
devil.
Many of the
people of today are like those in the time of Jesus who did not believe in Him.
For what reasons? Perhaps they are so obsessed with their own selves. That they
regard themselves as somebody who know better than Jesus that’s why they don’t
believe. Or they believe but they don’t follow the teachings of Jesus.
But the
consequence of not believing in Jesus is enormous. First and foremost is they
invite the devil to possess them. And once they are already possessed by the
devil they now are capable of doing evil without any guilt of conscience.
This is the
reason why there are mothers who abort their unborn child without any guilt of
conscience. This is the reason why there are married couples who engaged in
adulterous relationships without guilt of conscience. They are capable of doing
these despicable acts because they are already possessed by the devil of
convenience and the devil of lust.
But there’s
still hope for as long as there are people like you who believe in Jesus.
People like you who will stand for the teachings and values of Jesus. People
like you who will value the gift of life more than the evil of abortion and
wicked convenience. And people like you who will respect the sanctity of the
marriage covenant and not succumb to wicked, evil and lustful desires enticed by the devil. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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