We are to welcome Christ fully into our lives."

Acceptance and Faith: It requires a genuine acceptance of the Gospel message,

believing in Christ's name, and acknowledging him as the only way to salvation. 

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2

Gird yourselves,

O priests, and weep; mourn, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God!

For the house of your God is deprived of grain and drink offering. Proclaim a fast, call an assembly.

Summon the elders, and all who live in the land, into the house of your God, and cry out to the Lord,

"What a dreadful day the day of the Lord, that draws near, and comes as ruin, from the Almighty!"

 

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my Holy mountain!

Let all dwellers in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.

 

Yes, the day is fast approaching a day of gloom and darkness, a day of clouds and blackness.

 

A vast and mighty army comes, like dawn spreading over the mountain;

such as has never occurred before, nor will happen again in the future.

 

Ps 9:2-3, 6 & 16, 8-9

The Lord will judge the world with justice.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 11:15-26

 Yet some of them said, "He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons."

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 sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.

 

But if 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 a man, strong and well-armed, guards his house, his goods are safe.

But when a stronger man 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 ：

"We are to welcome Christ fully into our lives."

Why does the man in the Gospel end up with an even worse problem with evil spirits than he had in the first place?

After all, he has made an effort to clean up his life, which is symbolized by the sweeping of his house and putting things in order.

The problem is that he has only done half the job.

He has tried to clear his life of temptations and distractions that pull him away from God, but he hasn't put anything in their place.

His house is tidy, but empty. He has forgotten to fill his house, his life and his mind with "whatever is truthful, holy, just, pure, lovely and noble" (Phil 4:8).

 

This allows us to guard our house against attack.

Above all, we are to welcome Christ fully into our lives, so that he can guard and protect us.

The saints warn us against complacency or thinking that the battle with temptation is over.

We might have a period of tranquillity after a time of many graces, but temptations will come again, like the movement of the tides.

However, we are not to become fearful either, since we are to trust in the Lord's power.