Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Joel 1:13-15.2:1-2; Luke 11:15-26)
Recent surveys show that more than four-fifths of the Church
in the United States leave for other churches or no longer practice any
faith. Today’s gospel indicates why.
Jesus is warning the crowd following him not to test him by seeking
signs. He tells the people that it
should be obvious that he works for God.
If he were in league of the devil when he casts out demons, the devil
would be defeating himself. Then Jesus
delivers a critical message. Once a
devil has been cast out, the person who was possessed must take care to follow
Jesus closely. If not, the devil who was
cast out will find in that person a vacuum which he and other evil spirits
could enter.
Although few of us have been possessed, as we think of the
term, by a devil, all of us have had our sins forgiven. Jesus’ message then applies to us who have
been freed from sin. If we dawdle in
fantasies of unbelief or of corrupt pleasures, we will find ourselves sinning
worse than before. Once forgiven of sin,
we should continue praying and participating in the sacraments so that we do
not sin again.
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