Saint John XXIII
Pope 1958-1963
Gospel
LK 11:15-26
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 wasteand 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 reliedand 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.”
REFLECTION
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest.....
Pope John XXIII served as a medic and military chaplain during WWI. He ministered the soldiers. His real name was Lieutenant Angelo Roncalli. He served during World War II as a Vatican diplomat stationed in Turkey and Greece, where he played a significant role in saving Jewish lives by providing them with transit visas and other documents to escape the Holocaust. He saw cruelty, destruction, death, and violence. He was face to face with the enemy and the spoils of wickedness, malice and cruelty. He lived through the struggles against the Spirit of Evil or Beelzebul.
Now in a new century we, too, see and experience the fury of evil; as if Beelzebul brought in the satanic reserves to fight the good. Whether we see it in full force in the ongoing wars, the stripping away of the rights of the nascent, the disarming of the first and second amendments, we are engaged in a battle that demands from each one of us taking sides, speaking up and most of all praying. Praying for our nation, our world, our young, the soldiers, the defenseless should be our goal, knowing with confidence, faith and trust that Our Lord is with us. Though we fear what another can do to our bodies, we should fear what evil can exact on our souls.
" And is Providence not always with us? Two sparrows are not worth very much, and who can count the hairs on your head? But the Lord cares for the sparrows and counts the hairs of your head. Will he not also care for our souls, our life itself? So there is nothing to fear, for nothing can happen to us without our Father knowing. The Lord is the Creator of the sparrows, but to us He is even more: He is our Father. Oh what consolation there is in this doctrine."
( St John XXIII), Magnificat p 159, October 2024
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