The Passing of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy
Read
1 John 4:12-19; John 19:25-27; 21:24-25
One of the first events in the Gospel of Mark involves Jesus casting-out an unclean spirit from a man in the synagogue. The fact that this exorcism takes place at the outset of Jesus’ ministry helps us to understand what he is up to: having undergone the temptation of the devil in the desert and successfully resisted his temptations, Jesus is now in a position to launch his offensive against Satan’s kingdom. That offensive continues in today’s gospel – we are in a non-Jewish context, and Jesus tests the Canaanite woman, likely to illustrate that his ministry to Israel has not yet been completed – but the overarching battle against the kingdom of sin and darkness, and the establishment of Jesus’ own kingdom, is continuing apace.
Undoubtedly, demons continue to fight this battle against Christ today, even if this is largely invisible to us – as much as anything, our culture, so heavily influenced by science and materialism, blinds us to the ways that spiritual forces are at work in our lives. But whether the kingdom of darkness exerts its power in our lives through our own choices, or from external forces (spiritual or material), or a combination of the two, we must fight against that darkness. Our decisions have consequences beyond our own lives – they associate us with one side or another in this cosmic battle. By our prayer, and our love of neighbours, we can, like the woman in today’s gospel, entrust our lives and loved-ones to the kingdom of Christ.