GOD'S POWER IS CLEARLY AT WORK
"You have the Lord for
your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold. No evil shall befall
you, no affliction come near your tent. For God commands the angels to guard
you in all your ways."
Do we resist the temptations that lead us to
sin, and do we turn to God for help with His spiritual protection when we are
tempted to do wrong things in our life? Jesus assures us of His protection from
spiritual harm. Psalm 91:9-11 states, "You have the Lord for your refuge;
you have made the Most High your stronghold. No evil shall befall you, no
affliction come near your tent. For God commands the angels to guard you in all
your ways."
Jesus' numerous healings bring freedom to many
who are troubled and oppressed. Jesus Himself encounters personal opposition
and battle with Satan when He was put to the test in the wilderness just before
His public ministry. Jesus asserts that no kingdom divided against itself can
survive for long (cf. Mk 3:24). We have witnessed enough civil wars in our own
time to prove the destructive force at work here for the annihilation of whole
peoples and their land. We hear this in the Gospel, today. How can a strong
person be defeated except by someone who is stronger?
Fighting against each other is truly not a
win/win situation. Jesus asserts His love, power, and authority to cast out the
evil as a clear demonstration of the reign of God. Jesus' reference to the
finger of God points back to Moses' confrontation with Pharoah and his
magicians who represented the kingdom of darkness and empty promises. Jesus
claims to be carrying on the tradition of Moses, whose miracles freed the
Israelites from bondage by the finger of God. God's power is clearly at work in
the miracles Jesus performs and gives evidence that His Kingdom has come.
The most famous image of the finger of God can
be found on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. There, God's finger reaches out
to touch Adam with life. God's hand touches us also, breathing the life of the
Holy Spirit into us. In today's Gospel Acclamation we hear, "'I am lifted
up from the earth I will draw all to Myself,' says the Lord." God, our
Creator, has given us life, family, friends, and above all, this gift of
Himself! We are made by one loving and caring God who we call
"Father." God has touched us from the beginning of time and He
continues to touch us every day. We are one Christian family; we are connected.
Our Father wants us to love Him and share that love with each other.
True harmony, unity, brings things together. I
read a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "If you want to know peace work
for justice." There's a lot of truth in that. I feel so bad at times for
people who really have to struggle to find joy and peace in their life. Their
life and the world they live in, seems to be more bad than good. They have so
much anger in them that they lose themselves and drive away the people that
want to be close and assist them. May they fill the void in their lives with
God's love; to know that God is there in the bad times as well as the good. We
need to always show love and concern for them just as God does - with His arms
wide open. Let us pray that they will feel God's touch.
The point of today's Gospel is that we must
fill any void in our lives with God, who is the source of all that is good and
upright. St. Augustine said that "our lives have a God-shaped void, which
only God can fill satisfactorily." If we attempt to leave it vacant or to
fill it with something else, we will not know true peace, love and joy. The
finger of God reaches out through time to touch the whole Church with God's
life. That same Spirit breathes God's life in us so that we can praise Him with
all our heart.
October is the month dedicated to the holy
rosary. The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries
of our salvation. Pope Pius XII called it a "compendium of the
Gospel." At its heart, the rosary is a Christ-centered prayer. It has all
the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety.
Let us feel the touch!