The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary challenge us to accept the assistance of the Spirit to dig deep into our relationship with God as we contemplate our action in the face of tragedy and evil.
The reading from the Prophet Joel is a call to repentance and prayer.
* [1:16] Before our very eyes: Joel’s audience should have discerned the significance of the winter drought and the locust invasion they witnessed. Joy and gladness: the loss of field crops has reduced Joel’s audience to subsistence living, with no means for liturgical or personal celebration, as in v. 12.
* [1:17] The seed…clods of dirt: the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Most commentators use the translation given here, since it fits the prophet’s description of an agricultural year plagued by winter drought and a spring locust infestation.
* [1:18–19] In figurative language, Joel describes how the insufficient winter rain, the locust invasions, and summer’s heat on pasture lands and water sources drive domestic and wild animals to cry out for rain. (Joel, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)
Psalm 9 offers praise for God’s Power and Justice.
* [Psalms 9–10] Ps 9 and Ps 10 in the Hebrew text have been transmitted as separate poems but they actually form a single acrostic poem and are so transmitted in the Greek and Latin tradition. Each verse of the two Psalms begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (though several letters have no corresponding stanza). The Psalm states loosely connected themes: the rescue of the helpless poor from their enemies, God’s worldwide judgment and rule over the nations, the psalmist’s own concern for rescue (Ps 9:14–15). (Psalms, PSALM 9 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Luke describes the relationship between Jesus and Beelzebul and cautions against the return of the Unclean Spirit.
* [11:19] Your own people: the Greek reads “your sons.” Other Jewish exorcists (see Acts 19:13–20), who recognize that the power of God is active in the exorcism, would themselves convict the accusers of Jesus. See also note on Mt 12:27.
* [11:22] One stronger: i.e., Jesus. Cf. Lk 3:16 where John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “mightier than I.” (Luke, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB, n.d.)
George Butterfield comments that the Gospel reading speaks of Jesus as the strong man who attacks, overcomes, and then takes away Satan’s armor and distributes the spoils. Satan wants anything but justice for those under his sway. George asks what must he do to practice justice?
It begins with my life being swept clean and put in order. However, it cannot end there. I must put something into my life (house) or the evil one will return. I need to learn the virtues; I need to allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit such as love, joy, peace, etc. If I just get rid of the bad and do not replace it with the good, the unclean spirit comes back with seven other spirits more wicked than itself.
Jesus has overcome the kingdom of Satan. However, trials will always come. So, what are we to do? Through the power of the strong man, we can sweep our lives clean and then fill it with the virtues. We can practice justice. When we do this, Jesus says, we do it to him. (Butterfield, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus has conquered Satan,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"[Jesus] has conquered the ruler of this world. Having, so to speak, hamstrung him and stripped him of the power he possessed, he has given him over for a prey to his followers. He says, 'The strong man, being armed, guards his house; all his goods are in peace. But when one who is stronger than he shall come on him and overcome him, he takes away all his armor wherein he trusted and divides his spoil.' This is a plain demonstration and type of the matter depicted after the manner of human affairs... Before the coming of the Savior, he was in great power, driving and shutting up in his own stall flocks that were not his own but belonging to God over all. He was like some voracious and most insolent robber. Since the Word of God who is above all, the Giver of all might and Lord of powers attacked him, having become man, all his goods have been plundered and his spoil divided. Those of old who had been ensnared by him into ungodliness and error have been called by the holy apostles to the acknowledgment of the truth and been brought near to God the Father by faith in his Son."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81) (Schwager, 2019)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 11:15-26 comments that by his death and resurrection, Jesus has triumphed over sin and death and the “principalities and powers” that dominated us (Colossians 2:15). He has brought us into his kingdom through Baptism and rendered these adversaries powerless to destroy us! We can walk confidently in the freedom of those who belong to the Lord of lords and King of kings.
You do not need to be afraid. Jesus, the stronger man, has overcome the evil one. So take courage and come to Jesus today with your fears. Are you concerned about your health? Are you worried about family members falling away from God? Are you uneasy about the state of your town or parish or country or the Church as a whole? Put all these fears in the hands of the stronger man, Jesus. He has disarmed the devil, so you can trust him to take care of everything. Then you can go forward with the assurance that, no matter what happens, Jesus is Lord.
“Jesus, I believe that you are stronger than all the powers of darkness. I trust you and put my life in your hands.” (Meditation on Luke 11:15-26, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the prophecy of Joel concerning an apocalyptic time of cataclysm labelled as the Day of the Lord. The word play mocking the Canaanite god turns the “Baal of Zebub” into Beelzebub, “Lord of the flies”. Friar Jude reminds us of the necessity to put our lives in order so that the demon will have no home in which to dwell.
Cynthia Bourgeault writes of hope as a quality of God’s mercy, fully available to us. Through contemplative practice and surrender, Bourgeault believes we can experience God’s mystical hope and become a healing presence to the world.
In the contemplative journey, as we swim down into those deeper waters toward the wellsprings of hope, we begin to experience and trust what it means to lay down self, to let go of ordinary awareness and surrender ourselves to the mercy of God. And as hope, the hidden spring of mercy deep within us, is released in that touch and flows out from the center, filling us with the fullness of God’s own purpose living itself into action, then we discover within ourselves the mysterious plentitude to live into action what our ordinary hearts and minds could not possibly sustain. In plumbing deeply the hidden rootedness of the whole, where all things are held together in the Mercy, we are released from the grip of personal fear and set free to minister with skillful means and true compassion to a world desperately in need of reconnection. (Bourgeault, 2023)
We ponder the theological virtues, named Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love) by the medieval Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas, and pray for fruit in our lives from our surrender to these virtues filling our being.
References
Bourgeault, C. (2023, October 13). A Quality of Aliveness — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-quality-of-aliveness/
Butterfield, G. (2023, October 13). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/101323.html
Joel, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/joel/1
Luke, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/11?15
Meditation on Luke 11:15-26. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/10/13/804010/
Psalms, PSALM 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/9?2
Schwager, D. (2019, March 9). If It Is by the Finger of God. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved October 13, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=oct13
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