FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II (3)

FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II

THEME: THE SPIRIT IN THE WORD!

BY: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 30 2022

*1 Cor 2:10 – 16, Lk4 : 31 – 37.

*’What is it in his words? Fo

FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II

THEME: THE SPIRIT IN THE WORD!

BY: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 30 2022

 

*1 Cor 2:10 – 16, Lk4 : 31 – 37.

*’What is it in his words? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out’.*
That was the climax of today’s gospel pericope! It was such a dramatic episode where Jesus spoke with so much wisdom and authority in the synagogue that things began to happen. I have seen charismatic conferences where great men of God were still speaking and even before the so called ‘ministration’, things began to happen – the evil spirits began to surrender. That was exactly what happened in today’s gospel.

According to Vima Dasan, ‘Power without authority looks dangerous while authority without power always looks comical’. Jesus had both and so, confronts the evil spirits in today’s gospel: ‘Be silent and come out of him’. *How I wish all our priests and bishops were to realize the kind of power and authority they weild in the spiritual realm! The truth is that knowledge is the 1st requirement for manifestation of power. You may have so much power within you but as long as you don’t know or realize it, it is useless.* The Bible says that “An heir as long as he remains a child (that is, lacking knowledge) is not different from a slave”, Gal 4: 1 – 4. Priesthood comes with so much power and authority that many priests don’t really get to realize and tap from.

Unfortunately, the evil spirit is still around our world so pervasively. *There may be less cases of full POSSESSION where the evil spirit completely takes possession of a human soul (because of the grace of baptism) but we still have cases of demonic OBSESSION where demons of lust, immorality, materialism, violence, cultism, etc take over even the so called ‘men of God’ and do great havoc to the mother Church.* It is in our political landscape. It is all over our religious gatherings. It is all over our social, print and mass media. We need this power and authority in our priests and pastors and in believers in general. Children of God must take over and spiritualize the atmosphere because ‘the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work’, 1 Jn 3: 8.

Today’s 1st reading makes it clear that the Spirit scrutinizes all matters even the deep things of God. So the more we share in the life of the spirit the more we can come to understand God and life. *Worldly wisdom (some people call ‘philosophy’) speaks to the mind. But the spiritual things speak to the heart – to the whole person, heart, mind and will.* St Paul therefore insists that ‘we must teach spiritual things spiritually’, not in the way philosophy is taught, 1 Cor 2 : 13. This is serious! Because when there is a disconnect between the Spirit and the mind, the Word of God is made less effectual, 2 Pet 1: 3-9. It can happen because of sin in the life of the preacher, excess concentration on reading the written word rather than internalizing and releasing them from the depths of the spirit, excess desire to impress the audience, too much emphasis on stories or human philosophy, etc. Priests and preachers must know this! Even the use of modern gadgets like projectors can block the flow of the Spirit. *Let us allow the power and the authority of the Spirit to flow in us through prayer and holiness of life as we preach the Word of God!* May God bless you today!

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