HOMILY FOR THE 4TH MONDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A




HOMILY FOR THE 4TH MONDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A

HOMILY THEME: UNCLEAN SPIRITS

BY: Fr Paul Karabari 

Heb 12: 1 – 4, Mk 5: 21 – 43

‘There met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him anymore, even with a chain’

In the Gospel of today (Mark 5:1-20), we have the story of a man with an unclean spirit who lived among tombs. For the Jews, the tombs area was an unclean place. Demons drove this man to live in this horrific place. The devil is a symbol of anything that is dirty and unclean. Demons take delight in causing misery and torment to their hosts.

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We are told that no one could subdue him. He was stronger than everyone else and therefore free to roam around, causing turmoil. Obviously, people had tried many times to bind him, but every time, he broke free. This story is like that of Samson. Except Samson’s strength came from the Lord, and this man’s strength came from demons. The problem was that people tried to subdue this man with their own strength. There is no evidence that they prayed or asked God for help. Their own efforts and their own strength were not enough.

We can not hope to win the spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons by our own power. He is stronger than we are and smarter than we are. If we rely on ourselves, we will lose. We have to rely on the Lord who is stronger than He is. How can we do this? We must be alert to temptations and always turn to the Lord through prayer and good deeds. We must also allow Jesus into our environment, family, business, and life. Only Jesus can handle our difficult and stubborn situations.

The man was healed by Jesus. How did the villagers react about it? They implored Jesus to leave. This was their response to Jesus’miracle, asking Him to leave. There is no indication that they thanked Jesus for handling their problems, which they had tried and failed to do many times. There is no indication that they asked for more information about how He did this. They didn’t celebrate. They didn’t congratulate the man. They didn’t praise God for His goodness. They didn’t seek to understand more. They just wanted Him to leave.One reason was probably the financial loss some of them took since the demons destroyed their pigs. While a greater number of us overlook and underrate what God has done and is doing in our lives, some others want Him out of their lives.

Sometimes, we choose prosperity over salvation, the human over the divine, the flesh over the spirit. Jesus had to leave. He desires our salvation, but He won’t force it on us. We must deliberately choose our path in life. When God’s presence begins to hurt us, then something is totally wrong with us. It wasn’t only the man who had unclean spirit, but the villagers too. Anybody who resists Jesus has an unclean spirit. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. God bless you and all yours through Christ, our Lord Amen.

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