Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - Tuesday in the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 and Luke 4:31-37]What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Yesterday, Jesus proclaimed to his home town crowd that he was indeed the very word he was proclaiming! They didn't like it, but he continues today to show just how that word works! He shows that he is more powerful than any demon. Furthermore, he not only conquers the demon but we are told that the one who was possessed was not harmed by it. The restoration is total. The general pattern of "exorcists" in Jesus' time was that they would command by virtue of someone else's authority. Jesus doesn't do that. He acts on his own authority, which is the ultimate one. In our own time, on the rare occasions that a formal exorcism is required, the exorcist appointed by the Church acts with the spiritual authority of the Church, and not with his or her own, although he or she must be in good shape spiritually to handle the task. Contrary to popular opinion, this kind of exorcism is very rare. I am put in mind of the old hymn that begins: "All hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall....." It is all too easy to settle for a "stained glass Jesus" so that we don't feel uncomfortable about a very powerful one till the end times. Given the problems our secular society is showing, it will take a lot of power over a lot of demons to get us through! AMEN
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