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The Freedom Test
3 min
Gospel
Lk 4:31-37
And he went down to Caper´na-um, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Readings are taken from Dynamic Catholic’s Bible: RSV Catholic Edition.
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Transcript
The Freedom Test
Welcome back to Radical
and Relevant where each day, we are looking for a word or a phrase or an idea in the
gospel to anchor our days. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke, 4:31-37. "And
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the
Sabbath. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His Word had authority. And in
the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out
with a loud voice, 'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.' But Jesus rebuked him saying, 'Be
silent and come out of him.' And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he
came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one
another, 'What is this word, for with authority and power, he commands even the unclean
spirits, and they come out?' And reports of him went out into every place in the
surrounding region."
So we see here today Jesus casting out another
evil spirit. And we think to ourselves, "Okay. Well, who in our lives is possessed by an
evil spirit?" And we can probably think of a number of people for different reasons. And
perhaps what we're being called to today is to pray for those people. But I also think
that it's important for us to take a look at it and say to ourselves, "Okay. In what way
am I possessed by an evil spirit? In what way am I not fully free? In what area of my
life or what aspect of my life am I not fully free?" I say to people all the time, "If
you're not free to say no, you're not free to say yes." People get invited to things all
the time and they feel obligated, "Oh, I have to go to this. If I don't go to this,
them--" it's as if the world will come down if they don't attend some specific event."
And I say to them, "Do you feel free to say no?" And inevitably, they don't. And so the
truth is if we don't feel free to say no, we are not free to say yes. So perhaps today's
prayer or examination is what don't you feel free to say no to? Have a great day. And
remember, Be Bold. Be Catholic.
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