A SERMON FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY IN LENT
Today has been declared a
National Day of Prayer. For once though,
the American people do not have to be told to pray. In the face of peril our thoughts turn
naturally to God. When there’s little we
can do beyond washing our hands to protect ourselves from a potentially fatal
bug, at some point something in our human nature makes us realize that the
created things around us aren’t worth anything at all, and we turn toward God. He is our protector, our salvation and our hope.
And so we have a national day of
prayer. Who should we be praying for? Not only for ourselves and our loved ones,
but for the most vulnerable around us, those who are elderly, or who have
medical conditions that make them prone to infection. We pray for all those who are already
suffering from disease and sickness, and for their families on whom they
depend, or who depend on them and love them.
We pray for the souls of those who are dying, and for the repose of the souls
of those who have already succumbed. We
should not forget to pray for each other, all our neighbors far and wide, who
share our anxieties and live in fear, who find themselves isolated and in need
of help. For our doctors and medical staff
who devote themselves, tirelessly and selflessly, to the care of the sick,
placing themselves in harm’s way. For all
those who have to leave their homes and loved ones to maintain law and order, to
keep our homes supplied with water and electricity, who deliver food and the
other necessities of life. For all these
and others known only to God, we pray today and commit them to the loving care
of the divine Healer.
Our Gospel today deals with the
question of demons, and how we must cast them out. Demons work the same way as a virus. Instead of spreading sickness, however, they
roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls, sowing moral evil and depravity,
infecting people with lies, hatred and division. Like a virus, it starts out small—just a
quirky idea in somebody’s head. Karl
Marx was one of these men who had a virus-like idea. It tried to appeal to the masses, promising
them free stuff that would be taken from the rich upper classes who didn’t
deserve it. This kind of Marxist and
Socialist ideology is now rising again in popularity among the same kind of
people who have already had their beliefs infected—like a virus that gets into
their system, it starts small but quickly builds up into something far more
serious. From climate change, open
borders and the gradual suppression of free speech it transmutes into gender
denial, gay rights, and eventually the total abolition of God. Some ideas are more deadly than others, but they
all work together, infecting the minds of our people and turning them away from
God.
These demons must all be cast out. But if we try to do so in the name of Beelzebub,
another demon, then our exorcism won’t work.
We will simply be a house divided.
For example, we cannot drive out socialism with an unbridled capitalism
that exploits the working man just to make a very few very rich. Pope Leo XIII, over a century ago, proposed a
Catholic approach to social and economic politics that would cast out the
demons of socialism very nicely if only the world would adopt it. The Church has the right answers too when we’re
discussing the other vexing questions of the day. Truth comes from God, not from the will of
the majority. Just because a country has
a referendum to legalize abortion or same-sex marriage does not make these
horrors any more legal or moral in the eyes of God. Rather, it is just a sign that a majority of
the people has been infected.
The present crisis is an
opportunity. There are no atheists in fox
holes, and we certainly seem to be in a bit of a fox hole right now. So many people are turning to God right now. They seek protection and help in their need. As we join our prayers to theirs, it’s a good
time to extend a helping hand, and set aside any differences we may have. People who were once hostile are more
receptive to those little acts of kindness.
Their vulnerability, their weakness, is something God can use to create
unity out of division. There are even
signs of growing bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Help foster this spirit of unity with charity
and truth. Look for ways to help your
neighbor, and in doing so, you will be helping to cast out their other demons—replacing
hatred with love, lies with truth, and Beelzebub with the finger of God.
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