Word to the Wise
Friday, October 8, 2010 - Friday in the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
[Galatians 3:7-14 and Luke 11:15-26]But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!
u! The argument between Jesus and some bystanders about how he casts out demons is very clever and a good example of the kind of back-and-forth repartee that would be part of any rabbi's preaching at that time. But I was struck this time by the image of the "finger of God!" Perhaps it is because of the line in Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem, The Wreck of the Deutschland, in the first stanza, Over again I feel thy finger and I find thee. Hopkins was recalling wrestling with his own demons to decide if he would join the Jesuits. He was overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment. I recall another instance of the finger of God from the painting by Michaelangelo on the wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It is that finger of God that extends to the finger of Adam and creates life in the image of God. In Adam's case and in Hopkins' this "finger" speaks of the power of God. It is this power that Jesus was wielding in casting out demons. He sarcastically asks the bystander by what power does he (the bystander) and his "people" cast them out? The power of God extends everywhere, whether it be the great and overwhelming views of the cosmos or the demonic challenges that we humans face in ordinary life. We need not be intimidated if it is God that we seek. Only the demons and those who seek them should fear! If you feel that finger, take hold of it! AMEN
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