But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to
ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I
drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your
sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has
come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well armed, guards his house, his goods are safe.
But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons
he relied on, and disposes of his spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.
When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands, looking for a resting place;
and finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds the
house swept and everything in order. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits, even worse than
itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Reflect:
Reading the book Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne who had the gift of seeing and interacting
with angels, my overwhelmingly catholic friend was pretty disturbed about Lorna seeing angels
around Islamic mosques and Hindu temples. “How can it be? They do not worship the true God!
” What he didn’t realized was that whether they worship true God or not, God does care for them
all. In today’s first reading, Paul reminds the Galatians that God’s promise to Abraham was that
in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. When we take our election as “people of
God” to be exclusive, we begin to look down on others labeling them “less than” us and “God’s
reject.” This is the mistake ancient Israel made; and a mistake we might make as well. God’s
choice of someone is never a rejection of someone else; if God has chosen us, it is for the sake
of using us as channels of His Grace for others; to make us a blessing for everyone.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022
