"But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils." -Lk. 11:20-22
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time
How do you arm your palace? What do you do to guard your soul against temptation? How do you save your spirit from the effects of sin?
The good news is that we have God to help us guard our spirit, and if God is with us, we cannot be defeated. But we need to trust in him to do it. If we put our faith only in our will power (and we all do), then we will fail, we will give in to the temptation to sin. It might be because some sins appeal to our basest pleasures, it might be that we just want to rebel against God or our upbringing or it might be out of fear and weakness, but we will give in to sin at some point. In those times we need the humility to go to God, confess that we have failed, ask for His forgiveness, and for the strength to fight temptations in the future.
As Jesus goes on to say in today's gospel, when we clear out one evil spirit and clean up our 'dwelling place' that spirit will return with seven more of its nastier friends. As those forces mount against us, trying to pull us away from our loving Heavenly Father, we need to lean on Him even more to give us the grace and strength to guard our souls and keep our dwelling place tidy.
God Bless,
P.D.O.
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