Gospel Reflection for The 9th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 1:21-28
21 And they entered into Capharnaum, and forthwith upon the sabbath days going into the synagogue, he taught them. 22 And they were astonished at his doctrine. For he was teaching them as one having power, and not as the scribes. 23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus threatened him, saying: Speak no more, and go out of the man.
26 And the unclean spirit tearing him, and crying out with a loud voice, went out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying: What thing is this? what is this new doctrine? for with power he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. 28 And the fame of him was spread forthwith into all the country of Galilee.
In today’s Gospel, we read about the authority of Jesus, both as a teacher and over demons and evil spirits. Having been raised Protestant, we were never taught about such things. It is somewhat ironic that the Protestant denominations who claim “sola scriptura” or the Bible alone as their sole authority don’t seem to believe much in the words of the Bible. Demons and such are generally considered just old fashioned superstition…. Much as are the sacramentals I wrote about in yesterday’s reflection. It seems that Protestant doctrine wants to deny the spiritual interacting with the physical world – no Eucharist or Holy Water, no interaction with angels or danger from demons…. And few real, physical miracles. This is a true shame. On the one hand, their understanding of the true power of God is limited. On the other, they are in great danger of demons and evil spirits. Those dangers are very real. Even if one did not believe the plain words of the Bible, a quick look at the violence and horror in our daily headline news should be enough to convince anyone of the reality of intentional, satanic evil.
Before the time of Christ, Judaism and other religions had exorcists. They performed elaborate rituals and prayers in attempts to free afflicted people from possession. Sometimes they were successful, but often the forces of evil were just too powerful. In our Lord’s first public actions He gave us a powerful remedy. The Baptized Christian is protected and cannot be possessed by demonic forces against his will. They may still be tempted and tormented by the powers of evil, but after Baptism, an act of will is necessary for them to be dominated by evil; they have to assent. Before Christian Baptism, an innocent person could be possessed unwillingly and was a true victim of evil. Confirmation and the Eucharist further protect us from evil.
Unfortunately, the effects of Original Sin have placed in our hearts, concupiscence, or the proclivity to be more inclined to evil than good. So, we do not have to fight demonic forces alone, but our own will and nature. While struggling against our own sinful nature may be less scary than demons and evil spirits, the evils of human nature probably lead far more people to eternal damnation. That said, I do not mean to understate the supernatural powers of evil. When I was a very new Catholic, I chanced into a church while traveling and got to hear the visiting priest…. The actual exorcist on whom the horror movie was based give a homily on the reality of demonic possession and the importance of protecting ourselves from supernatural evil. This was to me sort of a Wizard of Oz type moment, the realization, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.” In the Catholic Church, the supernatural is just as real as in the Bible!
Although it is terrifying to contemplate, we must remember another passage of the Bible from Acts:
Now some also of the Jewish exorcists who went about, attempted to invoke over them that had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying: I conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.
And there were certain men, seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, that did this.
But the wicked spirit, answering, said to them: Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?
And the man in whom the wicked spirit was, leaping upon them, and mastering them both, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
And this became known to all the Jews and the Gentiles that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
And many of them that believed, came confessing and declaring their deeds.
And many of them who had followed curious arts, brought together their books, and burnt them before all; and counting the price of them, they found the money to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
So mightily grew the word of God, and was confirmed.
Through the authority of Jesus, we are protected from evil unless we assent to it. Through the Sacraments we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Through sacramentals we can drive demonic forces from us and our household. Demons flee from Holy Water, blessed salt, blessed oil, blessed Crucifixes, icons of angels and saints, etc. Wear the Brown Scapular, Pray the Rosary, wear a Saint Benedict or Holy Face of Jesus Crucifix. Never worry about being seen as old fashioned or superstitious… I would rather be old fashioned and protected from evil through the Church than modern and on my own!
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.