Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XIV, 1 September 2024). Sunday was also the first day of Autumn, when the Season of Creation began, and it continues until 4 October.
The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Gregory the Great (604), Bishop of Rome, Teacher of the Faith. Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 4: 31-37 (NRSVA):
31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. 32 They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 ‘Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. 36 They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, ‘What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’ 37 And a report about him began to reach every place in the region.
Today’s Reflection:
We began reading a series of readings in Saint Luke’s Gospel yesterday, and they bring us to the end of the Church year.
In yesterday’s Gospel reading, Jesus began his public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth, the small towns where he had grown up.
As he finished the reading, people began wondering why he was not doing in Nazareth what he had been doing in Capernaum and other places. His remarks so angered the people of Nazareth that they thought of killing him and drove him out of that synagogue and out of town.
But, as our readings in Saint Luke’s Gospel continue, we see how Jesus continues to bring good news to the poor, he releases this poor captive, he can now see things as they are and as they ought to be, the oppressed may go free, and all are amazed.
In this morning’s Gospel reading, the good news for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed, continues to be put into action by Jesus, not just in words, but in deeds, as he returns to Capernaum, which seems to have been his home town after Nazareth.
Capernaum, was a prosperous town on the Sea of Galilee, and once again Jesus visits the synagogue on the sabbath, where they were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority’ (verse 32).
Jesus speaks directly, confident of his authority and of his very essence. The Greek word here, ἐξουσία (exousía), has the same roots as the word in the Nicene Creed that is translated as ‘being’ or ‘substance’: ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρί (‘of one substance with the Father’).
The man with ‘the spirit of an unclean demon’ (verse 33) was, we might say, possessed, or under the influence of evil forces. In the understanding of the time, he was under Satan’s direction, separated from God.
The demon, speaking through this man (see verse 34), asks what Christ is doing meddling in the domain of evil: ‘Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’
He recognises who Christ is and that his coming spells the end of the power of the devil. He understands the significance of the coming Kingdom. Wonder-workers of the day healed using ritual or magic, but Christ exorcises simply through verbal command (verse 35), so clearly he is divine.
Are we comfortable with identifying or naming evil forces that are entrapping people in society today?
Do these malign forces manage to get a hearing in our places of worship today?
How would you name and identify them?
Would you include racism? Homophobia? Sexism? Class discrimination? Recent far-right rioters and the people who have egged them on? Support for war and violence?
What inner demons in myself have I failed to cast out? My prejudices, my misjudging of people, my failings in relationships and friendships that continue to cause hurt? My self-indulgence and personal vanity? My failure so often to speak out on behalf of the hurt, the marginalised, the oppressed, the victim?
It is interesting that in his response, Jesus leaves the man unharmed (verse 35). We are not told what happened to him afterwards. All we know that he is still there, standing among the people of faith, in the community of faith, that Saturday morning. The evil in him has been cast out, but he has not been cast out of the community of faith himself. I too can be forgiven and restored.
But how happy are we with the idea that compassion for the victims of hatred and violence and appropriate responses to the people trapped in a world of hatred and violence both find expression in Christ’s ministry, message and mission?
Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 3 September 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘To Hope and Act with Creation.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection on Creationtide.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 3 September 2024) invites us to pray:
We pray for all who are involved in climate justice, and who are dedicating their time and efforts to raise awareness of climate change and global warming. We pray for a generation of leaders with the courage to take responsibility and act justly for our changing climate.
The Collect:
Merciful Father,
who chose your bishop Gregory
to be a servant of the servants of God:
grant that, like him, we may ever long to serve you
by proclaiming your gospel to the nations,
and may ever rejoice to sing your praises;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Gregory to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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