20190225
DEALING
WITH THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL
25 FEBRUARY,
2019, Monday, 7th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ecclesiasticus 1:1-10 ©
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Before all other things, wisdom was
created
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All wisdom is from the Lord,
and it is his own for ever.
The sand of the sea and the raindrops,
and the days of eternity, who
can assess them?
The height of the sky and the breadth of
the earth,
and the depth of the abyss,
who can probe them?
Before all other things wisdom was
created,
shrewd understanding is
everlasting.
For whom has the root of wisdom ever been
uncovered?
Her resourceful ways, who
knows them?
One only is wise, terrible indeed,
seated on his throne, the
Lord.
He himself has created her, looked on her
and assessed her,
and poured her out on all his
works
to be with all mankind as his gift,
and he conveyed her to those
who love him.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 92(93):1-2,5 ©
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The Lord is king, with
majesty enrobed.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;
the Lord has robed himself
with might,
he has girded himself with
power.
The Lord is king, with
majesty enrobed.
The world you made firm, not to be moved;
your throne has stood firm
from of old.
From all eternity, O Lord, you
are.
The Lord is king, with
majesty enrobed.
Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your
house,
O Lord, until the end of time.
The Lord is king, with
majesty enrobed.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1P1:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought
to you.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the
Good News.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 9:14-29 ©
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Help the little faith I have!
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When Jesus, with Peter, James and John
came down from the mountain and rejoined the disciples, they saw a large crowd
round them and some scribes arguing with them. The moment they saw him the
whole crowd were struck with amazement and ran to greet him. ‘What are you
arguing about with them?’ he asked. A man answered him from the crowd, ‘Master,
I have brought my son to you; there is a spirit of dumbness in him, and when it
takes hold of him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and
grinds his teeth and goes rigid. And I asked your disciples to cast it out and
they were unable to.’ ‘You faithless generation’ he said to them in reply. ‘How
much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring
him to me.’ They brought the boy to him, and as soon as the spirit saw Jesus it
threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell to the ground and lay writhing
there, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been
happening to him?’ ‘From childhood,’ he replied ‘and it has often thrown him
into the fire and into the water, in order to destroy him. But if you can do
anything, have pity on us and help us.’ ‘If you can?’ retorted Jesus.
‘Everything is possible for anyone who has faith.’ Immediately the father of
the boy cried out, ‘I do have faith. Help the little faith I have!’ And when
Jesus saw how many people were pressing round him, he rebuked the unclean
spirit. ‘Deaf and dumb spirit,’ he said ‘I command you: come out of him and
never enter him again.’ Then throwing the boy into violent convulsions it came
out shouting, and the boy lay there so like a corpse that most of them said,
‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him up, and he was able
to stand. When he had gone indoors his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why were
we unable to cast it out?’ ‘This is the kind’ he answered ‘that can only be
driven out by prayer.’
DEALING WITH THE
SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Heb 11:1 -7; Ps 145:2-5, 10-11; Mk 9:2 -13 ]
In the gospel today, we
read of the powerful work of the Evil Spirit, so strong that even the disciples
could not overcome him. We
read that the boy had “a spirit of dumbness in him, and when it takes hold of
him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth
and goes rigid.” Then when the boy was brought to Jesus, the evil spirit
“threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell to the ground and lay writhing
there, foaming at the mouth.” Again, when Jesus cast out the evil spirit,
we read that the evil spirit “throwing the boy into violent convulsions came
out shouting, and the boy lay there so like a corpse.” Indeed, we must
never estimate the power of the evil spirit and therefore it behooves us not to
get involved with them.
Indeed, the Evil One is
real and today He works through the forces of the world. This is why St Paul said, “Our struggle
is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12) We experience the evil forces at
work today in the moves to redefine marriage and family life, human gender; and
whether a person’s dignity is grounded in the fact that he is constituted of
both matter and spirit. We see the dark forces at work in the destruction
of life through the promotion of abortion, stem-cell research involving embryos
and euthanasia.
The nature of Satan is
to lie. Jesus
told the Jews, “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your
father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according
to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8:44) The greatest deception of the Evil
One is to deceive the world into thinking that the devil is just a mythological
figure. He does not exist and he is not real. Humanism and
secularism no longer believe in spiritual beings. They only believe in
themselves.
What, then, do we do in
the face of Evil? When
we look at what is happening in the world today, we cannot but become
pessimistic over the situation. The world is not just becoming more
secularistic but humanistic and amoral, all in the name of democracy and
freedom. We seem to be fighting a losing battle in building strong
marriages and families, promoting the dignity of life from conception to
death. Many of us are so tired battling them that we end up joining them.
If we are ready to give up protecting our values, the future of our children
and humanity, then we would have allowed evil to overcome us, just like how the
disciples were overcome by the evil spirit in the gospel. They could not
cast out the evil spirit.
What was the response of
Jesus to such people who succumb to the power of the evil one? The Lord said, “You faithless
generation. How much longer do I have to be with you? How much longer do
I have to put up with you? Bring him to me.” It clearly shows
that we lack faith in the power of God to win the battle against the Evil
One. The disciples were not able to exorcise the boy from the evil spirit
because they lacked faith in God’s power and because this evil spirit was much
more powerful than those that they cast out earlier. “They cast out many
demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.” (Mk 6:13) This evil spirit was more powerful
than the rest. That is why, in our fight against the Evil One, we need to
employ the power of God and not just human arguments and reasons alone.
The first reading
reminds us that God is all powerful and He is in charge of this world. “All wisdom is from the Lord, and it
is his own forever. The sand of the sea and the raindrops, and the days
of eternity, who can assess them? The height of the sky and the breadth
of the earth, and the depth of the abyss, who can probe them? Before all
other things wisdom was created, shrewd understanding is everlasting. For
whom has the root of wisdom ever been uncovered? Her resourceful ways,
who knows them? One only is wise, terrible indeed, seated on his throne,
the Lord. He himself has created her, looked on her and assessed her, and
poured her out on all his works to be with all mankind as his gift, and he
conveyed her to those who love him.”
Therefore, we need not
fear that the Devil will win the battle. The victory has been won by our Lord. In
the gospel, we read how Jesus exorcised the Evil Spirit from the boy and then
raised him up as if from the dead. “The boy lay there so like a corpse
that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and
helped him up, and he was able to stand.” This symbolic act of ‘raising’
the boy is in anticipation of the passion, death and resurrection of our
Lord. Jesus overcame sin, hatred and death by His passion, death
and resurrection. With Jesus’ death and resurrection, we should never
doubt the power of God to bring life out of death, goodness out of evil, and
love out of hatred.
If we doubt the power of
God to overcome the Evil One, then we must be humble and acknowledge our
limited faith.
Like the father who said to the Lord, “But if you can do anything, have pity on
us and help us.” Jesus retorted, “If you can?” The starting point
of the father was a weak faith. The angel said to Mary “For with God
nothing will be impossible.” (Lk 1:37) Elizabeth praised Mary saying, “Blessed
is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her
from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45) This was what
the Lord said to the father, “Everything is possible for anyone who has
faith.” Faith means to rely on the power of God and be receptive to His
grace. So like the father our response is “I do have faith. Help
the little faith I have!'”
How then can we grow in
faith? The key is prayer.
“When he had gone indoors his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why were we
unable to cast it out?’ This is the kind,’ he answered ‘that can only be
driven out by prayer.'” There is no other way to grow in faith except
through personal prayer. It is in our intimacy with the Lord, reflecting
on His Word and allowing Him to dwell in our hearts and minds, that our
relationship with the Lord can grow. Faith just like trust in human
relationship is dependent on how much and how well we know each other. So
too with God as well. That is why we are always advised to pray so that
our faith may grow. And if our faith were to be deep and our prayers more
sincere, then fasting helps us to open our hearts to Him as we yearn for His
love. The sincerity of our prayers and the fervor in which we pray will help us
to be receptive to His love and His grace. Most of us pray without fervor
and that is why we lose the battle against Satan.
This is what St Paul
advises us, “Therefore take up the
whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and
having done everything, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, and fasten the
belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As
shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel
of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you
will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end
keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” (Eph 6:13-18) Indeed, we cannot fight the
battle just using logical arguments alone. He is a liar and he will
influence people to twist and turn the facts and offering half-truths. If
we are serious about changing and protecting society from the negative values
of the world, then we need to fight the Evil One with the power that comes from
God through prayer and fasting. As Catholics, we need to intercede to
Almighty God that He will send His angels to protect and defend us.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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