Survival of Evil

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

Who does Jesus heal?
Who does Jesus seek out?
Who is Jesus drawn to hear?

Jesus steps out of the boat on the other side of the sea.
Jesus crosses to the other side...
he is not content to remain in one location.

As soon as his feet touched the dry land
he encounters a possessed soul.

Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

The man ran up to Jesus, but it was the evil spirit
 within his soul that recognizes Jesus.

Physically this man has lost control over his own bodily movements.
No one has been able to subdue his out of control actions.

Do you find it odd that the evil spirit pleads to be spared by Jesus?

Evil in our own lives nags at our soul
 to be allowed to stay in place.

The evil in our own soul presents seemingly valid
arguments to be left alone...becoming more and more
comfortable in our heart.

Evil is determined to survive at any cost.
Examine what is less than good in your own life.
Does it quietly convince you that it is not that bad?

Jesus sent the legion of dark spirits into the swine...
the swine plunged themselves down the ravine into the sea.
They sentenced themselves to death by drowning.

It was best for Jesus to leave the area.
The people could not understand what they had witnessed.
They were filled with fear.

Odd that they feared the gentle power of Jesus
more than the violent power the evil spirits held within their host. 

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

Jesus heals all ills...he heals all peoples...he heals
without concern for your state in life.

Never be fearful to approach the Lord.

Blessings into the depths of your soul.

~~~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 ~~~

Natural Beauty

~~~ Genesis 13:2, 5-18 ~~~ Psalm 15 ~~~ Matthew 7:6, 12-14 ~~~

 

Holiness...dogs....pearls...swine...

How are these things related?

Holiness is associated with the beauty of the soul.

Pearls are worn to enhance a woman's physical beauty.

One is invisible;

 the other draws attention to the person who wears them.

 

Holiness of the soul causes one to radiate a beauty from above...heavenly.

A woman's physical beauty is enhanced by the pearls she wears.

Beauty from wearing pearls comes from the material world.

 

Holiness comes through following Christ and daily carrying your cross.

Pearls are formed because of an irritation within the muscle shell.

 

You would not want to intentionally damage the beauty

of either the pearls or your holiness.

 

Dogs and especially swine were considered

 unclean during Biblical times.

If your holiness were to become infected

with fleas from the dogs this would taint the beauty.

Sin of any sort,

but perhaps even venial sin

 is like the first couple of fleas on the dog.

Within a short time the fleas multiply and the problem is serious.

 

Swine wallow in the cool mud, their preferred spot of repose.

Who would take a beautiful strand of pearls and intentionally

drag them through a puddle of mud?

 

 

Using your holiness and appreciating the beauty of your pearls

may inspire you to treat others better than they might expect to be treated

by you or anyone else.

 

Keep your holiness free from sinful indulgences.

Keep your pearls free from dust and dirt; retain their luster.

 

Take care to seek the narrow gate leading toward eternal life.

Holiness will guide your way while the beauty of the pearls

will help keep you focused.

 

Consciously guard your holiness and your pearls.

Keep them away from all that is harmful to them.

Grace from God supplies your soul with the natural beauty of holiness.
When you see a string of pearls be reminded of the natural
inner beauty bestowed upon you.

Let your actions reflect your
Natural Inner Beauty.

 

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.