Friends,
in today’s Gospel we learn of a person possessed by a demon. Jesus
meets the man and drives out the demon, but then is immediately accused
of being in league with Satan. Some of the witnesses said, "By the power
of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons."
Jesus’
response is wonderful in its logic and laconicism: "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?"
The demonic power is always one of scattering. It breaks up communion. But Jesus, as always, is the voice of communio, of one bringing things back together.
Think
back to Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. Facing a large, hungry
crowd, his disciples beg him to "dismiss the crowds so that they can go
to the villages and buy food for themselves." But Jesus answers, "There
is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves."
Whatever
drives the Church apart is an echo of this "dismiss the crowds" impulse,
and a reminder of the demonic tendency to divide. In times of trial and
threat, this is a very common instinct. We blame, attack, break up, and
disperse. But Jesus is right: "There is no need for them to go away."
Reflect: How can you be a force for unification in your parish or Christian group?
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 240
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.
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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