By
Thelma Garry and Jack Finnerty
Seek
good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of
hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good, and let justice
prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have
pity on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
When
Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming
from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that
road. They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come
here to torment us before the appointed time?” Some distance away a herd of
many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send
us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and
entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
Matthew 8:28-34
Piety
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our
defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we
humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."
This prayer was
composed by Pope Leo XIII after he had a vision of St Michael sending Satan and
his evil spirits to hell. After falling into disuse after Vatican II, it is now
widely prayed within parishes at the conclusion of Masses.
Study
In today's Gospel, Jesus is driving away
the demoniacs, the unclean spirits. This reading is widely interpreted to
demonstrating the power and authority of Jesus. In addition, it also opens up
the whole subject of those demons that we may encounter in our lives, or that
may exist within us. Some say that there are "personal demons," that
part of ourselves or personal issues that we are afraid to think about or talk
about, or even a part of ourselves that we loathe.
Certainly, we don’t see herds of pigs
jumping off cliffs as depicted in the Gospel, but we do see the results of evil
inhabiting people in both subtle and more obvious ways. Demons come in
many forms and are ingenious in their capability to convince us that there is
no need to ward them off. Today, we are bombarded with advertisements and
media stories that sometimes subtly try to entice us to embrace unhealthy
products and to casually view moral decay and corruption. Television,
computers, Facebook and Twitter, DVD players, and movies are often vehicles
that display poor role models and teach us and our children the wrong
lessons. People often dwell in the world of unhealthy media entertainment
for many hours each day; some become jaded. Many people enjoy large
number of stories rife with violence, gore, and corruption, perhaps without
recognizing that these stories are related to the evil and demons that Christ
warns us about in the Gospels.
The promotion of “If it’s good for me then
it is the right thing” has reigned in our culture for a long time. This
attitude has fostered such things as self-centeredness, greed, arrogance, pride
etc., and promoted addictions. These and many other self-centered traits can be
called our demons.
Action
What are your demons? Are there any that
you are afraid to confront or to recognize? Do you have a need to screen out
some of the media offerings to which you are exposed? If so, follow the advice of St. Matthew by
asking Jesus to free you from evil influences that are present in your daily
life.
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