Tag: demon

“Everything is possible to one who has faith.” | Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (9:14-29, today’s readings)

Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”

Taking place immediately after the Transfiguration as Jesus comes down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and meets the other disciples, today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ encounter with a man whose son is possessed. In an argument with some scribes after attempting to drive out the demon, the disciples face the lack of faith of the father and the scribes. That is why Jesus says to them, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?” Jesus then asks them to bring the boy to him, whose spirit throws him to the ground in convulsions. The father asks for Jesus compassion and help, saying “if you can do anything.” Jesus redirects the father’s attention to everything that is possible through faith in God. In response, his profession of faith is a prayer for all who have faith in the Lord: “I do believe, help my unbelief.”

God, help me trust that you can do the impossible, especially in circumstances that appear to have no solution. Just as the father asks for help on behalf of the son, let me come to you with firm conviction in faith that you alone can restore us to your image. Daily life seems to produce abundant barriers to the realization of hope sought through continual prayer. Yet, through Jesus Christ your Son, you transfigure human dignity in a way that accomplishes your plan for salvation while respecting free will. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,” you say through Isaiah, “neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” Lord, strengthen my faith!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. The Lord is just in all his ways.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:31-37)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

While teaching in the synagogue, Jesus encounters a man possessed by a demon who recognizes immediately the authority of Jesus as the “Holy One of God.” The scribes and Pharisees, and even people in Jesus’ hometown, did not recognize his divinity. The demon, or many demons, identifying itself as “we,” asks Jesus what he has do with them and knows also that Jesus comes to destroy sin and death. Jesus expels the demons and frees the man oppressed by them. In today’s Gospel, Luke describes Jesus’ divine authority through his teaching and exorcism, further establishing his identity as the Messiah and his power over evil, sin, and death. Unlike the demons who possessed the man, how many among us in our daily lives fail to immediately see Jesus as the Son of God? God, help us in the spiritual warfare we face every day.

God, help me see and understand the spiritual realities that pertain to everyday, ordinary experiences. Saint Paul speaks of this, saying, we are “taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.” To have the mind of Christ means to be able to see reality as you see it. Free me, Lord, from anything that would prevent me from seeing Christ in the faces of others so that I can love them as you love them. Show me how to be Christ to others so I can be a means of your love. Strengthen my conviction that the reality of evil and its oppression have been overcome through the liberating triumph of it in the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son. Saint Gregory, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:31-37)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.

In the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon calls Jesus by his name and place and also recognizes his divinity, the “Holy One of God.” With a few words, Jesus exorcises the demon, and the man is left unharmed. “Be quiet!” The demon cannot withstand the authority of Jesus and the reality-forming words that he speaks. “Come out of him!” The people who witness this are amazed and say to one another, “What is there about his word?” The spirit knows that Jesus was from Nazareth and raised there. Like the people of Capernaum, the unclean spirit probably also knew that Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter. And it beheld that at the same time Jesus’ divinity coexisted with his humanity. While the people were amazed, the unclean spirit is convicted in God’s presence and cannot remain standing within it.

Father in heaven, no evil can remain hidden in darkness in the presence of your light. In the relationship of the Trinity, Jesus your Son is “God from God, Light from Light . . . by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” Whenever I am threatened by overpowering darkness, come to my aid to quiet evil in all its manifestations and banish it in the name of Jesus. Through the grace of the sacraments, help me remain in your light. As Saint Paul says in the first reading: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4