St. Denis, bishop & martyr, mt, & Companions, martyrs 

St. John Leonardi, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Galatians 3:7-14

 Understand then that those who follow the way of faith are sons and daughters of Abraham.

The Scriptures foresaw that by the way of faith, God would give true righteousness to the non-Jewish nations. For God’s promise to Abraham was this: In you shall all the nations be blessed. 

So now those who take the way of faith receive the same blessing as Abraham who believed; but those who rely on the practice of the Law are under a curse, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not always fulfill everything written in the Law.

 It is plainly written that no one becomes righteous, in God’s way, by the Law: by faith the righteous shall live. Yet the Law gives no place to faith, for according to it: the one who fulfills the commandments shall have life through them.

 Now Christ rescued us from the curse of the Law by becoming cursed himself for our sake, as it is written: there is a curse on everyone who is hanged on a tree. So the blessing granted to Abraham reached the pagan nations in and with Christ, and we received the promised Spirit through faith.

 

Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6

The Lord will remember his covenant forever.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 11:15-26

Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.”  So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign.  But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall.

 If Satan also is divided, his em­pire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Bee­lze­bul?   If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow mem­bers drive out demons? They will be your judge, then.

 But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you?   As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe.   But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.  When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a resting place. And finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  

When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order.  Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Praying for the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us cannot be over emphasized because our principal enemy is the Devil, the evil spirit who beguiles us and is out to mislead us. Even the “learned men” of Jesus own time were misled by the Devil.

They misjudged the actions of Jesus! They accused Jesus of being in league with Satan! Their prejudice against Jesus was used by Satan to make them fall into error.

Even the Galatians in our first reading were misled! So St. Paul admonished the Galatians to remember the Gospel he had taught them. Lest we, too, may be misled we must always beg for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in all that we do! May I invite you to pray with me:

“O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and enjoy His consolations, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”