Readings for Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2
The oracle of the Prophet Joel is set against a time (around 400 B.C.) when Israel experienced a huge plague of locusts. The Prophet saw this as a foreshadowing of the coming of the apocalypse – or “day of the Lord”. In the reading today, the priests and people are called to repentance in the face of this destruction. They are called to proclaim a fast of atonement.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
The assembly of the strophes from Psalm 9 gives us first a poem of thanksgiving. This is followed by a recollection of God’s support of the children of Israel as they came into the land promised by the Lord. The selection concludes with submission to the will and judgment of God.
Gospel Lk 11:15-26
In this selection from St. Luke’s Gospel, the Lord is challenged by his critics who say that he has power over evil spirits because he is in league with Satan, their master. Jesus refutes this idea asking “if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” He then tells his audience that God is stronger than Satan which is why he is able to cast them out.
The passage concludes with subtle but important message that says in essence – if an evil that tortures the spirit is removed and strength from God is not substituted to fill it up, that evil will return, worse than before.
Reflection:
We reflect today on the strength that can come only from God. There is a constant battle raging around us and in us. The prince of darkness, Satan is real, his intentions are destructive, he longs for the fall of all creation, so great is his hatred of the God who cast him down into the pit.
We may struggle at times with accepting the active role the Lord plays in our lives, but we do not have to look far to see people, even family members, were the Lord has not found purchase. In those people Satan has been able to use the fallen human nature to advance his cause. The most radical example is the psychopath whose conscience has been completely buried. But we see others who are like the passage from the Gospel “…swept clean and put in order”. In these hollow individuals, with no spiritual protection, the evil one can easily find a home.
Even if such a one has had a conversion experience and turned away from that dark place, if God is not put strongly in place, that evil will return, stronger than before. We see this most clearly in those suffering from addiction. The hole created by the loss of that addiction must be filled; if not by God then something much, much worse.
These are, of course, radical examples of individuals who have fought and lost the battle between the forces of God and those of Satan. The enemy is working diligently to increase his gains and some days we think he seems to be winning. But we are called to be the bastion of light, the army of God, fearlessly bringing the light of Christ to dark places.
Today we pray that our fight against those who love the darkness will make gains. We pray that those hollow people we encounter will be filled, at least in part, with the light we bring to them. The evil one never sleeps, may we likewise be constantly vigilant.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is St. Michael Fighting Demons by Master of the Legend of St. Ursula, 1480-1500
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2
The oracle of the Prophet Joel is set against a time (around 400 B.C.) when Israel experienced a huge plague of locusts. The Prophet saw this as a foreshadowing of the coming of the apocalypse – or “day of the Lord”. In the reading today, the priests and people are called to repentance in the face of this destruction. They are called to proclaim a fast of atonement.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
The assembly of the strophes from Psalm 9 gives us first a poem of thanksgiving. This is followed by a recollection of God’s support of the children of Israel as they came into the land promised by the Lord. The selection concludes with submission to the will and judgment of God.
Gospel Lk 11:15-26
In this selection from St. Luke’s Gospel, the Lord is challenged by his critics who say that he has power over evil spirits because he is in league with Satan, their master. Jesus refutes this idea asking “if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” He then tells his audience that God is stronger than Satan which is why he is able to cast them out.
The passage concludes with subtle but important message that says in essence – if an evil that tortures the spirit is removed and strength from God is not substituted to fill it up, that evil will return, worse than before.
Reflection:
We reflect today on the strength that can come only from God. There is a constant battle raging around us and in us. The prince of darkness, Satan is real, his intentions are destructive, he longs for the fall of all creation, so great is his hatred of the God who cast him down into the pit.
We may struggle at times with accepting the active role the Lord plays in our lives, but we do not have to look far to see people, even family members, were the Lord has not found purchase. In those people Satan has been able to use the fallen human nature to advance his cause. The most radical example is the psychopath whose conscience has been completely buried. But we see others who are like the passage from the Gospel “…swept clean and put in order”. In these hollow individuals, with no spiritual protection, the evil one can easily find a home.
Even if such a one has had a conversion experience and turned away from that dark place, if God is not put strongly in place, that evil will return, stronger than before. We see this most clearly in those suffering from addiction. The hole created by the loss of that addiction must be filled; if not by God then something much, much worse.
These are, of course, radical examples of individuals who have fought and lost the battle between the forces of God and those of Satan. The enemy is working diligently to increase his gains and some days we think he seems to be winning. But we are called to be the bastion of light, the army of God, fearlessly bringing the light of Christ to dark places.
Today we pray that our fight against those who love the darkness will make gains. We pray that those hollow people we encounter will be filled, at least in part, with the light we bring to them. The evil one never sleeps, may we likewise be constantly vigilant.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is St. Michael Fighting Demons by Master of the Legend of St. Ursula, 1480-1500
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