Lk 11: 14-23
Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven.
But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Whose Banner Will You Stand Under?
How many times do we try to do what is right and instead we are suspected, misinterpreted? Or we go out of our way to help and we are criticized? The increasing incivility in public and private discourse leaves us wounded and confused.
It’s good to remember this Gospel story no matter what our role in life is. Jesus went through this, too. A mute man is able to speak and people demanded a sign from heaven! Really? Listen to that man…he can’t stop thanking Jesus.
In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius brings us to a point of decision. We must name whose banner we will stand under. Jesus isn’t asking. He speaks with all authority when he says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
We must ask for the grace, every day, to claim Christ and be claimed by him
—Mary Ann Gessner first encountered Ignatian spirituality through Jesuit Prayer. She completed the 19th Annotation in May 2021 and is now a Chaplaincy Intern at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH.
Prayer
Jesus, I feel within me
A great desire to please you
but, at the same time,
I feel totally incapable of doing this
without your special light and help,
which I can expect only from you.
Accomplish your will within me…
Even in spite of me. Amen
—St. Claude La Colombière, SJ