10th Sunday, Year B: Reflection by Fr Julian Ekeh
(Mark 3:20-35)
God created us for Himself.
He made us, and we belong to Him. He wishes that we share in His life.
Our well-being gives Him joy. He wants to possess us. He owns us. We are marked
by his image that we carry. Unfortunately, the enemy also wants to destroy the
will of God for man. He feeds man with poison and opens his eyes to see evil as
good and to always stretch out his hand to make the wrong choices in life. The
enemy targets the moments man moves away from God. As an opportunist, he
strikes to steal, kill, and destroy.
The same God who came to know where Adam and Eve were, to
know their spiritual, physical, and moral condition comes again and again in
Christ.(God with us).
God in Christ feels for us.
He refuses to eat because of the crowd the enemy wants to possess. He
started the work of liberation, He teaches, He feeds, and He heals them,
manifesting His possession and their belongingness to Him.
Seeing the things Jesus was doing, the scribes who came down
from Jerusalem said of Jesus "He is possessed..." Yes, Jesus was
possessed, but they did not know who possessed Him. Their jealousy did not
allow them to know it. The father of all lies, the devil must have possessed
them to see the Truth as a lie, to see the Way as no way and to see the Life as
death. They even dared to ascribe the glory of God to the devil.
The truth remains that we, at every point in time, are
possessed either by the Spirit of God (Finger of God as Jesus puts it) or the
evil spirit. Who do you make yourself available to for possession? The things
you do show the spirit operating in you. There is a power that should work in
us as Christians, that power gets hold of us and drives us to do good always,
that power helps us to avoid evil and sins especially the sins against the Holy
Spirit. It opens our eyes to acknowledge the good in others and the good we
ought to do. It is the power that gives us spiritual fortification. It is the
grace to live for the kingdom of heaven and make our hearts temples of the Holy
Spirit.
Which Spirit have you allowed to possess you all these
while? If it is not the Spirit of God, then know that something is wrong. Do
you recognise the things God wants you to do for Him to take absolute
possession of your soul and yet decide otherwise? Then you're far from the
kingdom of God. A very clear sign to know those who are not possessed by the
Spirit of God is that they call evil good and call good evil. They detest the
good and embrace the evil.
Dear child of God, be possessed by the Spirit of the living
God, and may your heart become a true abode of the Most High
May God bless His word in your heart.
LET US PRAY
Oh God, we thank You for the gift of today. Help us to
recognise You and Your work in us, deliver us from every evil possession and
manipulation, grant that we may be possessed by Your Spirit all the days of our
lives through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Sunday to you
(10th Sunday, Ordinary Time Yr B)
Rev
Fr Julian O Ekeh
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