“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?” Psalms 27
Reflection
Paul calls us “children of the light”. (1Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11) How do we know that we are children of the light?
I think the only truthful answer is, “we don’t”, not with absolute certainty. Yet, even without certitude, we can have confidence in the authority of Jesus who has the power to deliver us from darkness. Like the man in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 4:31-37), we all suffer with “unclean spirits” of various kinds. Hopefully none of us is as debilitated by them as the person in this Gospel was by his. Still, these spirits, whatever they are, are a form of darkness that can threaten to overwhelm us. To these demons, we must respond with the words of Jesus, “Be quiet!” and trust in the power of Christ to transform us. Right before sleep is a good time to go “demon hunting”. A good examination of conscience will help us find those “demons” that have kept us from the Light. Then, saying the rosary to ask for our Blessed Mother’s intercession, we can call on Jesus to help rid us of them. Then, at our earliest convenience, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance will give us the grace we need to keep them at bay!
What we really need is Jesus' example of trust in God. Often our world seems more dominated by evil forces destructive of human life and dignity than by forces supporting human life. We may even wonder whether the power of evil is stronger than the power of good.
That’s when we need to remember that Jesus was not naive about the presence of evil in the world. He was continually assaulted by evil forces and evil spirits; forces which eventually led to His crucifixion. In spite of this He never yielded to despair, always remaining confident in the Father's love and care. His anguished cry on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me," (Matthew 27:45-46, Psalms 22:1) reveals the depth of His anguish; but His final sigh uncovers the depth of His trust, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." (Luke 23:44-46)
Our challenge is the same as Jesus': to live in communion with God, our most dear Father. The Father is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. The world is in God's hands! As we allow ourselves to be aligned more and more with God's power we become increasingly convinced with St. Paul that "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Romans 8:35-39) and that the power of good in us is stronger than the power of evil.
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