A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 11:14-23)
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Reflection
There is no worse blind person that the one who refuses to see! Many of us would rather stay in the darkness than to acknowledge the truth. It is easier to use faulty reasoning to avoid the truth than to accept we are wrong. It is easier to accept false reasoning because it helps us to justify our way of life and excuse our refusal to repent. However, it is important to notice that it is Jesus himself who uses sound logic to expose their hypocrisy. In essence, we see that Jesus uses reason in the service of faith!
In the passage, we hear that some people immediately resorted to accusation without foundation in order to twist the facts, proposing a darker and deeper force at work, and serve only to validate their own beliefs. We refer to these sort of accusations as “Conspiracy Theories”. Conspiracy Theories sound plausible on the surface but, they have no factual truths and can be debunked with reasonable logic. Unfortunately, most people who believe in these false explanations often resist all reasonable logic and factual proofs.
What is equally concerning is that other people in the crowd were demanding Jesus for a sign from heaven. As if the miracle they just witnessed were not enough! While those who use conspiracy theories to reject Jesus’ divinity would deny all reasonable logic or veridic proof, this other group would always ask for more and more evidence before accepting what is in front of them.
You can almost sense Jesus’ frustration with these two groups because there is no satisfying them. The collective minds of these two groups had a hard time accepting the truth. Either group relied on faulty logic to understand their world around them and, because of that misguided logic, they could not accept the miracle as proof of Jesus’ divinity.
The sad reality is that throughout the last two thousand years, we have seen these two groups at play every time there is a miracle: The BVM’s apparitions to San Juan Diego; to Lúcia do Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto; to Bernadette; Or the miracle of the stigmata at St. Padre Pio; and many others. In my opinion, one of the most recent and most powerful miracles took place during the pandemic. As I mentioned before, I truly believe God answered the world’s prayers. Precisely when the world was in the midst of the worst pandemic in a hundred years and just as the world was united in prayer, we got a miracle. In less than a year the world got not just one, not just two, but three different vaccines to combat the infection and the spread of the virus. Sadly, the two groups of people were at work before, during and after: those who believed in conspiracy theories about the purpose of the vaccine, and those who want another sign from heaven before they believe that God had any part in such event.
These two groups pretend to use reason to justify their thinking. Yet, they discredit any sound logic to avoid admitting their mistake! These two groups cannot see the truth. Not because it is hidden, but simply because they do not want to see it. Like the two groups in the passage, these two groups pretend that the hand of God is not present to avoid changing their ways.
However, Jesus exposes their inconsistent thinking using simple but sound logic. In doing so, Jesus is telling us that God created our intellect not to use it to justify our ends, or use it to deny His existence and His love for us (which is always at work for our well-being). God created us with this intellect to use it in conjunction with our faith. Reason and faith are two systems that guide us to God. One without the other always leads us away from Him.
The upside to this passage is that, clearly, there is a third group! Those who were able to see the truth about Jesus’ nature and purpose and accept it! And that has been true all through the history of our faith. It is this group who continues to form the mystical body of Christ here on Earth. This is the group that continuously accomplishes the mission of Christ and makes the Kingdom of God a reality here and now, among us.
The question for us is simple: which group do we belong to?
Action of the Day.
When was the last time you witnessed a miracle? Did you tried to rationalize the event? Which reasoning did you use in trying to “normalize” it, to secularize it? How difficult was it for you to accept it as such? If you have accepted it as such, how did it change your life? How has such miracle helped others to see God’s hand in it, and moved them closer to Jesus’ side?
Audio Reflection:
