This Sunday’s Gospel highlights two things most people today do not believe in anymore:
The authority of Jesus, and spiritual warfare.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus said sharply, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him. The people were so astonished that they started asking each other what it all meant. “Here is a teaching that is new,” they said, “and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.”
Exorcisms and casting out of demons still happen in this day and age. Just look up YouTube and you’ll see all sorts of stories and interviews with current-day Exorcists. Evil spirits and their nefarious doings amongst us are a real thing even in modern times, and I once read that the biggest strategy that the devil uses is to convince humanity that he doesn’t exist.
Just ask any self-professed atheist, and you’ll hear an argument of how the devil is just a religion’s way of scaring you to believe in God.
But is it?
Have we ever thought about how so many of our mental issues in this modern-age is related in some way to spiritual attacks? I’m not an expert in the topic so I’ll won’t expound further but the important flip side to this phenomenon is that we need to submit to the authority of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He alone can save and protect us.
He has shown us His divinity in the sacred Gospels and God has revealed His plan for us in salvation history through the Bible.
Let us find some time this week to adore Jesus in Church or in an adoration room, and remember to pay homage to our King. The one who rules with authority and mercy.
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