Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Dismiss and Conquer

Friends, in today’s Gospel, we learn of a person possessed by a demon.
Jesus meets the man and drives out the demon
but then is immediately accused of being in league with Satan.
Some of the witnesses said,
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”

Jesus’ response is wonderful in its logic and laconicism:
“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?”

The demonic power is always one of scattering.
It breaks up communion.
But Jesus, as always, is the voice of communio,
of one bringing things back together.

Think back to Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand.
Facing a large, hungry crowd, his disciples beg him
to “dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus answers,
“There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”

Whatever drives the Church apart is an echo of this “dismiss the crowds” impulse,
and a reminder of the demonic tendency to divide.
In times of trial and threat, this is a very common instinct.
We blame, attack, break up, and disperse.
But Jesus is right:
“There is no need for them to go away.”

+++When Jesus had driven out a
demon, some of the crowd 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.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions
searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from
which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it
swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven
other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in
and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man
is worse than the first.”+++

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