How are You Using Your Voice?

~~~ Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 ~~~ Psalm 115 ~~~ Matthew 9:32-38 ~~~

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out
 the mute man spoke.

As long as the demon had control
of the poor man he was not able to speak.
Why, was this man mute? What was the connection with the demon?

There seems to be a parallel here between the idols
made of gold and silver and a possessed person.
The idols are modeled after real living persons.
They have all the proper features
of a human being,
 but they cannot compare.
They have mouths that do not speak,
they eyes that do not see, they have ears that do not hear.
They are empty inside;
they do not have the ability to love.

They have no heart with which to share compassion with another.
The idols stand tall as if they are strong and powerful,
but the elements soon scratch and wear away at their shiny polished finish.

This man brought to Jesus stands before one who does hear,
who does see, who does have love and compassion in his heart.

Once the demon was cast out by Jesus the man was free.
He was granted his freedom by the one with flesh and blood.
No idol could ever do the things that Jesus went about doing.

An idol is a mere replica of something that might exist.

Jesus was no replica, Jesus was real.
Jesus was real in every sense of the word.

If you recall God struck Zachariah mute when he was doubtful
 of  God's power to give Elizabeth a child.

Here we see the opposite; it is God's power
that restores the voice of this man.

You have a voice...how are you using it?
Are you using your voice to give praise and glory to God?
Or are you using your voice to be critical, mean, and hateful?

What if you were to lose your ability to speak?
How would you respond?

We are blessed with a God who restores what has been lost.
I invite you to consider how you use your voice.
Let your voice be one of love,
compassion, and forgiveness.
~~~Peace~~~

Seek Good...Hate Evil

~~~ Amos 5:14-15, 21-24 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~  Matthew 8:28-34 ~~~

...Seek good and not evil.......Hate evil and love good...

The demoniacs were controlled by something outside of themselves.
Something evil had taken over their very beings.

The Lord will be with those who seek good...
those who diligently avoid evil.
We are strongly urged to turn away from evil.
We are encouraged to love what is good.
We should cherish what is good when we find it.

I know all the birds of the air,
and whatever stirs in the plains, belongs to me.

God lays claim over all of creation.
A creation he created initially for good.
In the beginning all was good.

But evil managed to make itself visible.
Evil made itself appealing.
Evil spoils what was created to be good.

God knows we were created for good...all was created to be good.

Jesus comes into the presence of the two possessed
with the spirit of evil

The demons pleaded with him,
“If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

The swine were lowly creatures associated with Gentiles
during Biblical times.

Sometimes things outside of our control
 prevent us from living our life to the fullest.

If you have something in your life that is holding you back
know that there is nothing more powerful than the power of Jesus.

His power to drive out the demons
 was far beyond anything the people had ever witnessed before.

They were frightened so much by the broad scope
 of his power that they begged him to leave the area.

What else could Jesus do?
How far would this power of his extend?
Would this power cause problems in their town.
How could he cast evil spirits into animals?

Blessed with grace to live a full life.
 ~~~ Peace ~~~

Conspiracy of Death

~~~ 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 3 ~~~ Mark 5:1-20 ~~~

The third son of David, Absalom, suffers from over active ambition.
He conspires to strip his father of his kingship.
He carefully carries out his plot until David flees in despair.

David and his loyal armies leave the city of Jerusalem.
David leaves weeping and with his head covered.
He is devastated and probably did not see this coming from his own son.

As David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, 
he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, 
and he was walking barefoot. 
All those who were with him 
also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went.

David is deeply disturbed by the actions of his son taken against him.
He had only recently agreed to restore his relationship with Absalom
after he killed his own brother.

One of the most somber places we might go is a cemetery.
A cemetery is usually a fairly quiet place...
a place where only a handful of people frequent on a regular basis.
A cemetery, is where we find the main characters in the Gospel today.
Jesus gets out of the boat and is confronted with a myriad of evil spirits.

...a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.

This poor soul was alive, but completely consumed by these demons.
The demons never let him rest;
they tortured and tormented him night and day.

But when they see Jesus they know with certainty
 that he has come for them.

Jesus walking among the dead cast the demons into the herd of swine.

Swine were already considered unclean and not fit for human consumption.

In this cemetery Jesus has a confrontation about life and death
 in the very location where death remains.

The tormented man wants to be given life.
The evil demons had robbed him of his life,
just as sin robs us of life.

Jesus restores life no matter what the situation.
He is life...he has conquered death.
Absalom conspired with his own demons of death.
The legion of demons conspired to draw their life from the poor man.

Jesus wants us to  have life...life everlasting.
The life Jesus restores is the most amazing life;
a life like never before experienced.

“Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

God wants to bless us in telling others of his great love and mercy.

Jesus Offers Freedom

~~~ Amos 5:14-15, 21-24 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~ Matthew 8: 28-34 ~~~

The demoniacs in today's gospel were coming from the tombs...

the graveyard...the place of death, decay, and emptiness.

Out of their demonic possession came terror to those who came near them.

In their misery they were miserable and were only capable of enveloping others in misery. Everyone took steps to avoid them not wanting to become

a victim of their savage ways.

When you are hurting it sometimes means that you hurt those around you.

When you are hurting you often feel unloveable.

When you are not loved your actions confirm that you do not want to be loved.

When you are hurting you have the tendency to push others away be your actions.

These two demoniacs were roaming around tormenting others because that is all they knew. You cannot give that which you do not possess.

You cannot give love when you do not have love to give.

When Jesus comes on the scene they are immediately suspicious of his intention.

They were not used to trusting anyone.

So they say to Jesus,

"Have you come to torment us before the appointed time?"

They wanted to be released from the prison of themselves but had no power to help themselves. They wanted freedom from who they were.

The remarkable thing is that even in their possessed state they were still able to recognize Jesus as the Son of God.

The pure goodness of Jesus was able to reach into their consciousness.

This goodness of Jesus is what allowed them to surrender to his ability to free them.

They were willing to let go of what was the source of their tormenting.

This was an exorcism executed by Jesus on the spot.

Jesus complied with the demons request to send them into the herd of swine...swine an unclean animal. In fact pigs were consider the most unclean animal during the time of Jesus. These demons knew they would have certain destruction by being cast into the pigs. They were granted freedom from themselves.

Jesus came to give each of this same freedom from ourselves...freedom from our sinfulness...freedom from the invisible chains that bind us.

This kind of powerful freedom was frightening to the town...

they begged Jesus to leave.

If he could cast out demons what else could he do?

Perhaps there were some things about their lives that

they were not willing to have cast out.

We hold on to our sins not realizing that they are really controlling us.

Leaving our comfort zone, be it riddled with demons or not, is a difficult prospect.

Are you willing to let God release you from the 'demons' hiding within?

God offers us true freedom...

May God Bless our Troops who understand the many faces of freedom.

Desire to Live in Holiness

Mark 5:1-20

I find the end of today's gospel most intriguing. The man just released by the words of Jesus from 'legions' of demons wants to make a total change in his life. This man's healing has frightened those who witnessed the incident and they are urging him to leave. They are afraid...who has ever seen demons being driven into swine?

As Jesus is getting into the boat, the man pleads to remain with him. But Jesus, and this is the curious part to me, does not allow him to come aboard he boat. Instead Jesus tells him, "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."

The man did as was requested of him and just like the woman at the well when she returned to share her story about her encounter with Jesus; "...all were amazed."

So often in scripture we see Jesus approaching someone in need of his healing touch. In this case Jesus removed the legion of evil spirits with a few simple words. "Unclean spirit, come out of the man." Jesus if you will invited them to remove themselves of their own free will.

Jesus always knows what is best for us, his children. Of course swine being pork were already unclean in the eyes of the Jewish people. Much is recorded in the Old Testament Leviticus 11 and in Deuteronomy 14 about clean and unclean animals and foods.

The Israelites were to be pure and holy dedicated to the Lord and that included not eating certain unclean animals. I think Jesus, in curing this man, was saying I want you to be able to live a 'clean and holy' life.

I also believe there is a message for us about the manner in which we can become holy. In gratitude the healed man wanted to follow Jesus. He was willing to leave his family and his village because he was overflowing with joy by his restored peace.

But what does Jesus do instead of saying sure come along with us as a witness to what I can do? He instructs the man to remain there and to return to his family. His family had probably given up on ever being able to be reunited with him, because of the violent demons. Jesus wants this man to witness to those in his hometown...to those who knew him...to those who would be able to recognize the dramatic change.

What does this mean for us? I think that we are called to be holy within our everyday lives. We are called to holiness in gratitude for what God has done for each of us. Maybe we have not been cured of numerous demons, but we do have issues in our lives that keep us in invisible chains. Namely our own sinfulness.

We are being called to live a life of holiness. The requirement is to make the commitment to live in holiness. It does not requirement one to enter religious life. Jesus did not take the man into the boat to sail away instead he sent him into his own community to proclaim his healing...proclaiming his desire to live in holiness.

We can do likewise!

I chose this original image of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona because on a recent visit there I was captivated by the sense of holiness I experienced in that holy consecrated space.

This kaleidoscope image reflects the subtle beauty you can experience when you strive to live in holiness. All is more united together peacefully.