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Gospel Reading for September 3, 2024 – Luke 4: 31-37
DETERMINATION
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
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The demon was so afraid of Jesus because he recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God, who had all the power to destroy him. As a matter of fact, by just the word of Jesus, the demon instantly left the man.
There are plenty of demons lurking around us, some we do not even recognize and perhaps, some of us have already been possessed by him without our being aware of it. Surely, no one in his/her right mind would want to be debilitated by sin. A basic instinct of a human being is to preserve his/her life and not to destroy it, and the ONLY AND SURE WAY to get rid of the devil is TO LISTEN TO JESUS AND FOLLOW HIM.
Sometimes, we complain that it is so difficult to be a good person, because to be good means to struggle a lot in life. It is the presence of the devil that causes the struggle (between good and evil), but it becomes difficult only if we don’t have the DETERMINATION to try our very best to be good all the time. Vacillating between good and evil will give a leeway to the wily devil to do his best to win us out. Is it what we really want?
Holy Name of Jesus, save us!
