Monday, August 31, 2015

22nd, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 01-09-15

1 Thess 5:1-6, 9-11 / Luke 4:31-37

It is when people are saying "How quiet and peaceful it is" that the worst suddenly happens. That is one of the statements from the 1st reading.

That may be similar to what they say about the lull before the storm. It is also a strategy used in warfare to attack the enemy when the enemy is most unprepared and not alert.

It seems to be such a drastic contrast that when things are quiet and peaceful, it is also a time that chaos and havoc can spring up suddenly.

The point in the 1st reading was the call to stay awake and sober, and not to slide to complacency and carelessness and forget that we are called to greater and higher things in life.

The urgency of the call is not for a later time or to be postponed, but it is for an immediate response.

In the gospel, as the people came to the synagogue for a time of prayer, they were expecting a time of quiet and peace.

But that was shattered when a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil shouted at Jesus with the top of its voice.

The people could be shocked by it, or perturbed or irritated or agitated by it, and the initial reaction would be to drag that possessed man out of the synagogue and restore the quiet and peace.

But let us remember that peace is not the absence of disturbance. Rather peace is about being aware of THE Presence.

In the gospel, the presence of Jesus drove out the evil from the possessed man. May the presence of Jesus also bring about peace and quiet in our hearts amidst the chaos and havoc around us.