Paul calls us “children of the light”. (1Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11) How do we know that we are children of the light?
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. As Father John Peter said at Mass this morning, “Doubt, fear, hate, jealousy, envy, greed; anything that is negative in our life is a demon.”
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. Laxity of our belief in the Holy Trinity of God is the way demons find their way into our life. To these demons, we must respond with the words of Jesus, “Be quiet!” and trust in the power of Christ to transform us. The easiest way to tell the demons in our life to leave us alone is to say the Creed with true conviction and sincerity.
As any athletic coach will tell you, the best defense is a good offense. Identifying and taking the demons out before they “score” on us is to go “demon hunting”. Right before sleep is a good time for this. A good examination of conscience will help us find those demons that have kept us from the Light. Praying the rosary to ask for our Blessed Mother’s intercession, we can call on Jesus to help rid us of them. After that, at our earliest convenience, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance will give us the grace we need to keep them at bay!
What we 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. Despite 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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