TThe times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord.
- Joni
Eareckson Tada (So much of life is spent waiting, it seems. Let these be times for opening to God more
deeply.) |
Jer 7:23-28; Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 Lk 11:14-23 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Reflection on the Scriptures
The Gospel has Jesus healing a man unable to speak by driving out a demon. Some of
the onlookers question by what authority Jesus does this. I find myself thinking how often I want to attribute unfortunate events that are out of my control to something beyond mere chance. I also notice how often thoughts of an evil force come to mind in this context. I am reminded how my imagination ran wild fifty years ago when I read the book “The Exorcist”. My sense is that I am not the only one wired to respond in this way as I recall the spiritual mayhem that movie adaption of this book
brought to a good part of the general public. (I should add that for me the movie was sometimes tame in comparison with my own personal mental picture of the book’s events.) Returning to the text of today’s Gospel, I see an interesting lesson in the discernment of spirits. A conclusion that seemed so obvious to me required Jesus’ explanation for a number of members in the crowd. I come back to the thought of hardened hearts for my prayer today. Dear Lord,
I realize how poorly I listen.
I fall short in my response to guidance.
Perhaps my Lenten resolve needs a better direction.
Strengthen my will to listen and to respond appropriately to what I hear.
Help me to sustain a new attentiveness in my discernments.
Allow this to be a season in which I make progress in mind, body, and spirit.
-by Mike Cherney
Proverbs for Perspective and Spiritual Living by Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min. From Pathways to Serenity, 1989, Liguori Publications; reprinted by Contemplative Ministries, Inc., 2013 (Minor editing applied.)
- https://shalomplace.com/view/pathview.html Included in
Light for the Christian Journey, 2020: Contemplative Ministries, Inc.
https://shalomplace.com/view/light-journey.html
I. Perspectives
1. One hundred years from now, your body will be rotting in a grave with the worms, and it is likely that 99.999999% of the world’s population will not even know or care that you ever lived.
2. People of today are like voyagers on an ocean cruise who are busy partying, decorating their cabins, playing shuffleboard, and planning future trips when all the while the ocean liner is slowly sinking.
3. Nothing is forever except God. Your bad moods will pass, and your difficult circumstances will one day cease. Everything will perish in
the end; only God will remain. What you have worried over shall be no more. Only that which is rooted in God will persist.
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