In the first reading today from Hebrews 11, we hear about some wonderful, faith-filled characters from the Old Testament. Yet while they were “approved because of their faith, (they) did not receive what had been promised. God had foreseen something better for us.” Oh, God has something much better for us!
In the Gospel today fromMark 5, Jesus has an encounter with a demoniac. The demons possessing this guy were violent. They knew who Jesus was, and so they begged Him to allow them to take over a herd of swine. Jesus puts them out, they go into the swine and cause the herd to jump into the sea, where they all drowned. This didn’t sit well with the community, and they asked Jesus to leave their area. This story always reminds me of how we deal with our own demons.
We all have them. Those demons that we wrestle with. Whether it is some form of addiction or propensity to a particular sin, we must be vigilant in doing battle with them. Unfortunately, we all too often try to battle them alone. Wouldn’t you think that the guy in today’s Gospel story had tried himself? After all, it couldn’t have been very pleasant what he went through. It wasn’t until Jesus came along that the demons were defeated. The same is true for us. If we try to battle our demons alone, apart from Jesus, we will always lose. But when we allow Jesus to lead the fight, the demons don’t stand a chance!
Father, help us to recognize our inner demons today. Give us the grace to realize that we cannot battle them alone. Help us to allow Jesus to fight for us. Amen.
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