Daily Gospel Reflection for September 2, 2014
Today’s Gospel: Luke 4:31-37
Soon after the shooting at our Sandy Hook Elementary school, my husband and I were blindsided by another evil. Conspiracy theorists were spreading rumors about the “shooting hoax,” claiming that it was all staged, and my husband and I became familiar faces known as the “Sandy Hook hoax actors.”
You can imagine the damage this sort of thing does to a person already in emotional distress. Immediately, our focus went from constant prayer and trust in God, to a dark and paralyzing fear. And then it dawned on me. DISTRACTION. This was the work of the devil. You see, the evil spirit knows the authority and power in Jesus Christ, and so he has to create a distraction; a way to pull our focus away from the truth. Safe to assume the devil wasn’t a fan of our quickly born slogan “Newtown chooses love,” or the sight of the massive crowd around Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church. And so he needed to make more noise.
In today’s Gospel, the people are astonished at the teachings of Jesus, because he spoke with authority. And he spoke with authority because his word is Gods word, and His word always does what it says. And so when the unclean spirit speaks through the man saying “Ha! 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!” he is not speaking in light conversation here, but rather, he is speaking out of fear.
The devil believes in God, and fears Him. He knows that this is a battle he is not equipped to win. His only chance? Causing a distraction. But before he can, Jesus rebukes the man, calls the evil spirit to come out of him, and upon seeing and being amazed, “the news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.” Once my husband and I called on the authority of God, and believed in His word alone, the distraction of the conspiracy theorists fled us. Our focus remained on the truth; our gaze on the face of Christ. And so it is our job and duty now to spread this good news. To remind people everywhere that the darkness will never cover the light, and that in the daily war of good vs. evil, Jesus will always win.
Ponder:
What distractions are in my life, and am I allowing them to keep my focus from the truth? Do I doubt the power of Gods word? Am I telling others about Jesus?
Pray:
Powerful Jesus, please keep me focused on your word. Everyday is a battle. All around me are the distractions of the evil spirit, trying to deceive me. I love you and I trust you and I know that you are more powerful than any other, and that you alone have the power to set us all free. Give me the strength today to avoid such distractions, and to tell everyone I meet about you. Amen.
Copyright 2014 Laura Phelps
