*** 1st Reading ***

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

 He will raise up for you a pro­phet

Like myself from among the people, from your brothers, to whom you shall listen. Remember that in Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, you said: “I am afraid to die and I do not want to hear the voice of Yahweh again or see again that great fire.”

So Yahweh said to me: “They have spoken well. I shall raise up a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put my words into his mouth and he will tell them all that I command.

 If someone does not listen to my words when the prophet speaks on my behalf, I myself will call him to account for it. But any prophet who says in my name anything that I did not command, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”

 

Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 

**** Gospel ****

1Corinthians 7:32-35

 I would like you to be free from anxieties. He who is not married is concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. While he who is married is taken up with the things of the world and how to please his wife, and he is divided in his interests.

 Likewise, the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the service of the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit. The mar­ried woman, instead, worries about the things of the world and how to please her husband.

 I say this for your own good. I do not wish to lay traps for you but to lead you to a beautiful life, entirely united with the Lord.

 

Gospel Reflection

Read:

Jesus was asked to teach in the synagogue on a Sabbath Day. His authoritative teachings netted admiration among those present during that day. He was challenged by a man with an unclean spirit who happened to be inside the synagogue. Jesus expelled the bad spirit out of the man which further strengthened His reputation as a good preacher and a miracle-worker.

Reflect:

Jesus was in a holy place (the synagogue) during a holy time (the Sabbath) doing a holy act (reading the scriptures and expounding its meaning to an audience rapt in attention).

Yet the holiness of time, space and action combined have not barred the entry of a man possessed with an evil spirit in the synagogue. This is a mystery since popular imagination portrayed evil spirits as afraid of the sacred.

Why is this man inside the synagogue then? This perhaps gives us a glimpse that evil can coexist with the sacred and it does not harm them at all. It is only when a conscious act of expelling them happens that they are driven away.

No wonder therefore that evil men and women can come and go inside places of worship, mingle with God’s representative and still act normally. We need to consciously exorcise these evils that creep into our Church by invoking God’s power.

Respond:

The devil penetrates all levels of society. We need to be vigilant to fight its malevolent influence. Let this spiritual warfare be nourished by our deep relationship with Jesus because this types of demons can only be expelled by prayer and God’s power.