Homily for 4th Sun OT, Year B
Fr. Albert
St. Peter’s, New Iberia
Demons are real. They have existed since the beginning of time. They are present in the Old Testament, they are present in the New Testament, and they are still with us. They are more intelligent than us, stronger than us, and whole-heartedly dedicated to destroying us. And yet, they are ultimately powerless and doomed to fail in their overall mission. This doesn’t mean we should take them lightly, however.
Movies and books have portrayed a variety of exorcisms and used them to scare and entertain us. This vague ambience of Christian belief blinds us to the importance of what Jesus Christ is doing. It blinds us to the power and newness of the Christian faith, especially in the context of the ancient pagan world. Jesus Christ is here casting out a demon, which is comforting, but there is a larger context that we overlook.
See what the demon says. “Have you come to destroy us?” He speaks of “us,” a community of demons. We know there are multiple demons, but he also speaks about destruction, which seems a bit more than the temporary relocation of an exorcism. The reason why is that Jesus did come to destroy this community of demons. Not in the sense that they would cease to exist, but in destroying their kingdom.
Outright demonic possession is a somewhat rare thing. Most of us have never witnessed it, and we only hear occasional stories. Jesus and the Apostles, however, seem to run into demons constantly throughout the New Testament. What changed? Did they run out of demons? Not exactly, but something did happen. You see, the kingdom of heaven that Jesus proclaims is an invading kingdom, a conquering one. In order to reign, it has to overcome another kingdom already in place, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan and his demons.
Originally, humanity lived in God’s kingdom on earth: no sin and death for us. But then came Original Sin; We broke away from God’s kingdom. Ultimately, wherever sin and death are dominant, Satan reigns. One way to see this is paganism and idolatry. Pagan gods don’t exist and idols have no power. But, demons do exist, and they often use the names and idols of pagans as a front for their activity.
On the practical level, it meant that sometimes, pagan practices actually seemed to work. Telling the future, signs of power, and what we might call “magic” seemed possible under pagan religion. Demons can do such things, but not if God restrains them. When Jesus Christ enters the scene, the demon recognizes that, not only will he be cast out of this one man, but that Jesus is the Holy One of God. He recognizes that Jesus has the power to topple their whole empire, to restrain their ability to do supernatural things. And he was right; History shows us this.
There are many reasons that, in just over 300 years, Christianity went from nothing to the biggest religion in the Roman Empire. One of those reasons, however, is that paganism stopped working like it used to. The more Christianity spread – the more people relied on the power of the cross – the less power demons seemed to have. According to sources at the time, the Roman Emperor could usually rely on some future-telling abilities that came from their pagan rituals. In 299 A.D., however, none of the rituals seemed to work. They tried several times and couldn’t find any omen whatsoever. Eventually, the pagan priests declared that it was the presence of Christians that stopped them. This led to a nasty, bloody persecution we call the persecution of Diocletian, the emperor at the time. And yet, we won. The empire is gone, we are not.
The point of all this is twofold: to show that demons and their place in history are real. But even more so, to show that the Gospel, the Catholic Religion, has real power and authority.
Two weeks ago, I told you that it was important to spend time with God and pay attention to him so that you could follow him. Last week, I told you that following God meant sharing his message with others, that evangelization and proclaiming the Good News is a necessary part of actually being Catholic. Now, if you try to spread the Gospel, you will face some obstacles. One major difficulty is this: people won’t believe you. If you teach the Truth, people will doubt your authority.
But look at this scene from the Gospel. People listen to Jesus because he has something the scribes do not: authority. Today, the our “scribes” are politicians, businessmen, the media, and scientists. Some people listen to some of them some of the time, but all the noise makes us doubt that any of these people are reliable… that any of these people have authority. Jesus cuts through the noise in what he says and how he says it, but the real kicker is this: “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” Exorcism shows his authority.
All the Apostles do miracles as proof of authority, evidence that the Gospel is true, and casting out demons is part of that. And if you honestly try to preach the Gospel, your authority will be questioned. So, what should you do to manifest the authority of the Gospel? Why don’t we see more miracles and exorcisms at mass and other times when we preach? First of all, there is a miracle at every Mass, although it is usually invisible to us: the Eucharist.
Secondly, things are different now. With the Apostles, it was still the beginning of the invasion: The Kingdom of Heaven made its first major assault against the kingdom of darkness. As with all wars, strategy changes over time. Where the faith is new or where demonic power is more obvious, there are more miracles. Ask people who do hardcore missionary work in foreign countries and places that haven’t heard of Jesus – there are miracles. But, in many cases, we use more subtle tactics. Authority isn’t just flashy supernatural power. Authority for us also comes from two other places: The Church herself, and holiness.
Grow in your relationship with Christ and proclaim the Gospel, but do not rely on your own power. Rely on the authority of the Church. In Confirmation, you were given some of that authority. Through the Church, you are connected to Jesus himself. We have 2000 years of consistent doctrinal teaching and an unbroken connection to the Apostles through the ordination of Bishops. That’s authority. Learn how to use that in presenting the Gospel. In an age of constant chaos, that kind of stable consistency can do more than you might imagine.
Finally, authority is found in holiness. Practice what you preach. Integrity is a rare trait, so it can be quite powerful when you have it. This practice takes many forms: prayer, charity toward the poor, fasting and sacrifice – I hope to address these in the weeks leading up to Lent, but for now, suffice it to say that authority starts with the decision to be a man or woman of your word.
Demons are real and they are trying to destroy us, but they cannot win unless we let them. All we have to do is pay attention to God, share his words with others, trust in the authority of the Church, and strive to live the Truth that has been given to us. Then God himself will dwell within us. Faced with that, faced with Christ in us, the demons cry out “have you come to destroy us?” Yes, yes we have and, by the authority of Jesus Christ, we will.
