HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B (1)
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: THE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
(Mk. 1:14-20)
In the day’s Gospel, immediately after Jesus’ baptism signalling the beginning of His ministry, Jesus had an encounter with an unclean spirit.
This happened after He was praised for teaching with authority. Upon recognizing Jesus, the unclean spirit inquired if Jesus would destroy them and even admitted its knowledge of Jesus as the Holy One of God. Jesus commanded the unclean spirit which obeyed Him with alacrity.
The Gospel says a lot about the unclean spirit and Jesus. First, the unclean spirit is real. It finds the human person as a place of operation. This will not be the first time Jesus will have an encounter with them. They knew Jesus. But Jesus knew them more and knew how to deal with them.
Second, the unclean spirit is afraid of Jesus. They knew Jesus has power over them and they are inferior against Jesus. That is the reason why they would rather attract and lure a person to join them. In that way, they will have a buffer against Jesus. Indeed, the battle between good and evil happens in every heart of man and woman.
Third, there were other powers against the unclean spirit aside from jesus. Yet, the kind that Jesus showed amazed them. Much more, Jesus’ actions were done with authority. For this reason, Jesus became popular. Many suddenly had hope. But some leaders, like the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees were threatened. Their jealousy planted the seed of anger which led to their planning to eliminate Jesus. They were blinded by their entitlement which moved them to vanish Jesus in their midst. They failed to see that Jesus was not after fame or power. Jesus only made use of powerful words and deeds to reveal who He is, invite them to conversion, and effect salvation.
Next time we hear or even encounter the unclean spirit, recognise its presence, have faith in the Lord and never let yourself agree with it.
