Wednesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
July 1, 2015 8:30am
I always get a kick out of this
story.
Jesus expels these demons out of
two men.
The demons go into the pigs and
the pigs run off the cliff into the sea and drown.
So the people ask Jesus to leave.
I guess they see lots of pulled
pork sandwiches going right down the drain!
Seriously, I do think these
people have a lesson for us.
They realize the power of Jesus.
They get more focused on that
than on the devils Jesus expelled.
Unfortunately, they were afraid
of Jesus’ power and of what else he might do.
So the lesson for us is to focus
on Jesus’ power and not to be afraid of it.
The truth is that we all have to
deal with temptations, with sin, maybe with bad habits, maybe even with harmful
addictive behavior.
The message here is not to stay
focused on the evil.
Instead, get focused on the power
of God, the power of Jesus.
That is exactly what twelve-step
programs call for.
Admit your powerlessness and
submit yourself to a higher power.
For us: admit our humanity, our
weakness, and draw upon the power of God to resist temptation, to avoid sin, to
adopt new habits that are helpful and life-giving.
We can do this turning to the
power of God in the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass, in the celebration
of Mass and reception of the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in
private, personal prayer, and in the reading of Scripture.
The important thing is to
emphasize and focus not on ourselves and our sins, but on the Lord and his
power to make us like himself.
He is more powerful than any
evil.
