With today’s readings, I invite you to read them not only once, but twice or maybe three times!
Slowly! These readings take us deep into Christ with the gift of the Spirit given to us.

No one knows what pertains to God, but the Spirit of God…the Spirit that was given to us so that we might understand the things freely given to us by God. So what has God freely given to you, or to  me? God gives us God’s Spirit, with Christ through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

Our Gospel from Luke leads me to think that Jesus is offering us a way to know what is of God, or not.  It is the Spirit that dwells within him that gives him the authority to cast out demons, give life and bring healing. For, Jesus, the Christ in union with the totality of God IS the AUTHOR OF LIFE! Jesus is being true to himself.

We too are born, created to be true to ourselves. Both as individuals and collectively as humanity our call is to live true to the Spirit of God who dwells within us. To live with the mind of Christ having been created in the image of God. God’s work of art! It is here our own authority is grounded.

St. Ignatius of Loyola gives us a way through the discernment of spirits to help us know when we are being faithful to our own truth, and when we stray or need to make choices for life.

From experience he knew that some thoughts left him sad while others made him happy, and little by little he came to perceive the different spirits that were moving him; one coming from the devil, the other coming from God (Autobiography, no. 8). This link below will give more information.

Tending to and living a spiritual life heightens our senses to recognize the demons present within ourselves and around us. We recognize the things that lure us from the goodness and love of God. With grace, and belief in the Spirit of God within, we can cast them out. We can choose life, forgiveness, love, choose God.

True, too, evil dwells in our world but we can by living faithful to God’s word, overcome it as well. The Psalm for today invites us to pray:

The Lord is faithful to all his words and holy in all his works.
The Lord lifts up all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

In another passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus’ final discourse, Jesus tells us whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. With Faith, and the power of the Spirit within us, we can carry out the words and works of Jesus and overcome the demons and evil in our world.

Let us pray that individually we might be interiorly cleansed from all demons or evil that haunts us, leads us from God, Love,  and come to know the power of the Spirit living within.

Let us pray that evil may be banished from our world, and we will come to know the goodness and the love God has for all of humanity, for all of Creation!

Come Spirit of God and renew the face of our earth.  AMEN