March 03, 2016
Thursday, 3rd Week of Lent
1st Reading: Jer 7:23–28
Gospel: Lk 11:14–23
One day Jesus was driving out a dumb demon. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign.
But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons? They will be your judges then.
“But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
When adversaries accused Jesus of belonging to Satan’s kingdom, he found strong defense in the concept of unity. He reasoned out that even devils have to be united lest their kingdom falls. Jesus’ exorcism ministry could point to only one conclusion: He had nothing to do with Satan.
Unity is a pursuit common to devils and humans. In pursuing unity, humans move to opposing directions with the bad uniting themselves to destroy, and the good to preserve. Devils unite to such level that the power of one devil is the power of a whole kingdom. We can never settle for the so-called “lesser evil” without getting entangled in a web of greater evils. Give a devil an inch and he will grab a thousand feet. Give him a square meter and he will squat on a hectare.
To be victorious, let’s join communities and be united. But what is unity? Roy B. Zuck, author of “The Speaker’s Quote Book” (1999) wrote: “You may tie the tails of a cat and a dog together by a rope and have union, but you surely don’t have unity!” It is not enough to belong to a spiritual community and attend all meetings. This type of unity is good breeding ground for Satan and his minions.
It is easy to check if our unity is the kind that drives devils away. Does it summon the presence of Jesus in our midst, or is it the kind that makes Jesus shy away from our group lest he’d be accused of being in cahoots with the devil? – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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