Homily for Friday 12th October 2018
_“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.” *Galatians 3:7-9.*
Today, St. Paul continues his lecture to the Galatian whom he referred to as foolish for making circumcision more important than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. In proving to them that Faith in God is more important than the law (being circumcised), Paul reminded them that Abraham had not even been circumcised yet when God called him and made him the source of blessing for all nations.
As St. Paul teaches us: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.” Galatians 3:13. However, the fact that salvation does not depend on the law does not make the law invalid. It simply changes our approach to it. Before Jesus Christ, we were slaves, now we are sons and daughters of God. The slave obeys the law out of fear knowing it is his only chance of survival but the son obeys the law out of love knowing that the house belongs to him.
A person who was delivered by Jesus Christ left his heart empty and refused to allow God to take possession of his life thereby giving room for a full-force return of the demonic spirits. Upon seeing that the person was possessed again, the people started looking down on Jesus, they went as far accusing Jesus of using the power of demons.
The truth is that to this day there are many Christians who still believe that Jesus has no power; Christians who fear demons more than Jesus Christ. Some like these persons in today’s Gospel passage come to Jesus demanding for signs and wonders as if to say: “Jesus, prove yourself or I walk away!” It is interesting that Jesus did not perform any sign for them. Instead, Jesus seized the opportunity to teach them how impossible it is for him to be casting out demons by Beelzebub.
What we learn from Jesus’ response is His calm disposition. Jesus had every right to get annoyed with the people or even to call down fire on them for such a false accusation but He took his time to teach them. When people lie against us, let us learn to be calm and allow the truth put them to shame.
Also, from His explanation, Jesus acknowledges the fact that demons have power, He even refers to satan as a strong man fully armed but adds that He is MORE POWERFUL. Jesus is the stronger man who assails satan, overcomes him and divides the spoil. Yes, demons may appear powerful to us, they evoke some fear in us but the simple truth is that their power is nothing compared to God.
That a man could be cured of demonic possession only to later on relapse into it is not to say demons are greater than God but to say the man himself was careless and senseless. Dear friends, just as God will not help you select your thoughts, God will not determine what kind of spirit occupies your heart.
You are in charge of your inner space. If you don’t open up your inner room for God to enter, if you are not focused on the things of God, satan will go in there and relax. Repentance is not an automatic thing as some preachers present it. (Once you say these words, you are saved!). No, repentance requires an entire process of cleaning one’s heart completely from the evils that have festered for so long and allowing God to take possession. If this is not done, there are chances that the demons may return.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my faith in your ultimate power to save me. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Galatians 3:7-14, Psalm 111:1-6 and Luke 11:15-26).
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