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The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for others to see by. The saint is the one who walks through the dark paths of the world, being him- or herself a light. - Felix Adler
(Spend some time thanking God for all the men and women through history who have been such lights to you and to the world.) |
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JL 1:13-15; 2:1-2; PS 9:2-3, 6, 16, 8-9; LK 11:15-26
R. The Lord will judge the
world with justice.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and
ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
USCCB Lectionary
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What is the point of Jesus' grim story about a vacant house being occupied by an evil force? It is not enough to banish evil thoughts and habits from our lives. We must also fill the void with God who is the source of all that is good, wholesome, true, and life-giving for us. Augustine of Hippo said that our lives have a God-shaped void which only God can fill satisfactorily. If we
attempt to leave it vacant or to fill it with something else, we will end up being in a worse state in the end.
What do you fill the void in your life with? The Lord Jesus wants to fill our hearts and minds with the power of his life-giving word and healing love. Jesus makes it very clear that there are no neutral parties in this world. We are either for Jesus or against him, for the kingdom of God or against it. There are ultimately
only two kingdoms which stand in opposition to one another - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness which is under the rule of Satan. If we disobey God's word, we open to door to the power of sin and Satan.
If we want to live in true freedom, then our "house" (the inner core of our true being) must be occupied by Jesus where he is enthroned as Lord and Savior. The Lord assures us of his protection from spiritual harm and he
gives us the help and strength we need to resist the devil and his lies (James 4:7). "Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways"(Psalm 91:9-11). Do you know the peace and security of a life submitted to God and his word?
"Lord Jesus,
be the ruler of my heart and the master of my home. May there be nothing in my life that is not under your lordship."
DailyScripture.net
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The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Treats of these words in the Paternoster: "Dimitte nobis debita nostra."
God help us, how absurd it is for religious to connect their
honour with things so trifling that they amaze me! You know nothing about this, sisters, but I will tell you about it so that you may be wary. You see, sisters, the devil has not forgotten us. He has invented honours of his own for religious houses and has made laws by which we go up and down in rank, as people do in the world. Learned men have to observe this with regard to their studies (a matter of which I know nothing): anyone, for example, who has got as far as reading theology must
not descend and read philosophy -- that is their kind of honour, according to which you must always be going up and never going down. Even if someone were commanded by obedience to take a step down, he would in his own mind consider himself slighted; and then someone would take his part [and say] it was an insult; next, the devil would discover reasons for this -- and he seems to be an authority even in God's own law. Why, among ourselves, anyone who has been a prioress is thereby
incapacitated from holding any lower office for the rest of her life. We must defer to the senior among us, and we are not allowed to forget it either: sometimes it would appear to be a positive merit for us to do this, because it is a rule of the Order. - Chapter 36
(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.)
Paperback (Kindle edition available)
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