Homily: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Power over unclean spirits

In Our Gospel reading today from very early on in St. Mark’s Gospel, the first chapter, we witness this dramatic encounter between Jesus and the Devil.  The devil had taken possession of a man in the synagogue where Jesus had been teaching.

Typically, we say that Jesus’ first public miracle was his turning water into wine at the Wedding at Cana.  But his first miracle in the Gospel of Mark is that of rebuking the unclean spirit and commanding it to leave this man.  His first miracle, in Mark at least, was an exorcism.

Although we have seen a proliferation of horror movies on the topic of demonic possession in recent years, the devil is certainly not a fashionable topic in polite society.  Modern elites will often dismiss our Christian belief in angels and demons as childish and unscientific.

Yet, the story of Jesus’ life and ministry simply cannot be told without referring to the adversary.
The Apostle John, in his First Letter (4:8), sums up Jesus'  entire mission with the following words: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." Jesus frequently refers to the devil in his parables and other teachings, and the devil himself engages Jesus in the desert and returns again later to engineer Judas' betrayal (cf. John 13:2).

This Gospel lesson is perhaps uncomfortable, but undeniable: the devil is real, and he is bent on sabotaging the work of grace.

The devil is a fallen angel: an angel who was created good by God but then rebelled against God and took many of his fellow angels with him in that rebellion.  The fallen angles, called demons, together continue to work against God by seeking to extinguish the life of grace in human souls.  They try to convince us to use our free will, like them, to revolt against God by breaking his commandments.

And the devil is relentless.  As St Peter puts it in his First New Testament Letter (1 Peter 5:8): "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour.”
St. Mark called the demon today “an unclean spirit.”  ‘Unclean’, is an Old Testament term for a person or thing that has been ritually defiled and therefore prohibited from taking part in worship. The devil was cast out of heaven because he defiled himself by refusing to worship and obey God.

The demons are unclean, too, because they are filled not with God’s love and life and beauty and truth but malice and hatred for God and his creation.

Christians, if we are to be filled with God’s life and truth and come to behold the face of God in heaven, we must remain pure by refraining from Sin.  Jesus in the beatitudes said “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

The enemy attacks us on many fronts—impurity, impatience, attitudes of anger and violence, fear of speaking the truth.  Sometimes he tries to keep our wounds of grief open much too long, or to keep us from forgiving one who has hurt us.  Sometimes he raises up a distraction to keep us from praying, or brings up images to distract us during times of prayer.  Most often he urges us to find comfort and pleasure in things other than finding our joy in God.  He is bent on keeping us from deepening in God’s grace, in growing in love of our neighbor.

But all of his attacks can be resisted by clinging to Christ.  St. James says, “resist the devil, and he will take flight.”  We resist him by making the sign of the cross and speaking the names of Jesus and Mary when we are tempted, and by building up our resistances to demonic attack by practicing prayer and charity throughout the day. So many times we fall into sin because we fail to put up any fight. We heard St. Paul in the second reading today say, “adhere to the Lord without distraction” Cling to him, when you are facing anxiety about your marriage, cling to him, in times of temptation.

The presence of the demons is perhaps frightening.  Yet, in our Gospel today it was the unclean spirit that was filled with anguish and terror when Jesus unleashed his power to free the possessed man.  The power and authority of Christ is infinitely superior to the demons.  God and the Devil are not equal in power.  The entire demonic army is cast out by a single word. This should fill us with great hope and confidence.  Any and all evil in our lives and in our world is able to be overcome by the power and love of God.

There is a spiritual battle going on beneath and above the surface of human history, and of our personal history.  We cannot avoid being involved in this battle as long as we are here on earth - the devil is just too interested in making our lives miserable, now and forever, by separating us from God.  But Jesus was able to expel the demon from this possessed man easily and definitively. And he is also able to give us strength to overcome the temptations that plague us.

Three things especially can help this strength flow more freely in our lives.

First, stay close to Christ, cling to him, adhere to him without distraction.  It was because the man in the Gospel came near to Christ, that the demon was expelled.    The same goes for us if we stay close to Christ, especially through regular prayer and the Eucharist.

Second, stay close to the truth. The devil's main weapon is deception. He manipulates our selfish tendencies by filling our minds with lies and half-truths. This is one reason he fights to keep us out of the confessional. Confession is the gift of truth: we face the truth about ourselves by confessing our sins, failures, and weaknesses, and God, through the priest, reminds us of his truth: mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional grace. The devil loves the darkness; confession unleashes the light.

Third, stay close to others in need. The devil is the lord of selfishness, and Christ is the Lord of love. When we resist our selfishness by serving others, whatever their need may be, we weaken the devil's influence in our lives.

Today, as Jesus becomes present to us in this Holy Mass, let us renew our commitment to Him. That each day this week, we will draw near to Christ in prayer, near to Christ by studying the truth of our faith, and close to those in need for the glory of God and salvation of souls.