Friday of the
Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Joel 1:13-15.2:1-2; Luke 11:15-26)
A local parish just had its first “Christ Renews His
Church” retreat. The men responded
well. Most who signed up came, and most who
came on Friday night stayed until Sunday.
But, of course, the end of the retreat was not the end of the
process. The first priority as the
retreat was closing was to schedule a follow-up meeting where the men would
share how they felt going back into the world.
Such follow-ups are prevalent the popular movements that invigorate the
Church today. Jesus hints at their necessity
in today’s gospel.
Jesus has just driven out a demon. The people wonder where he got such
power. He tries to convince them that it
comes from God because the devil would not work against himself. Then Jesus teaches the people that once
cleaned of their impurities they must stay close to the Lord. He would say that thinking one can remain in
virtue without prayer and penitence is only fooling oneself. As he puts it, the devil can return with evil
spirits more pernicious than what possessed the person before causing great
havoc.
We do not use the terminology of spirits, devils, and
demons today. But this does not mean
that they do not exist. More sophisticated,
we typically call the moral problems people face vices, deviant behaviors, or
the like. In any case, when the evil is
removed, we are wise to remain, as Jesus tells us, close to him so that greater
problems do not overwhelm us.
