Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The word of God we hear today is wonderful and helps me a lot. Did you notice where this miracle took place? It was not in the church since there were no churches at that time, but in a synagogue. They are similar since a word of God is announced in both. In the synagogue it was the Torah (Pentateuch) that was preached and all the scriptures in the church. Who else is in the synagogue? Jesus Christ. And the word says that he taught with authority. And what does this mean, that he shouted a lot, no? He taught with authority and not like the scribes. They preached very nicely and also preached the truth. They said it was necessary to pay the tithes, to fulfill the Law, to love thy neighbor as thyself and the Pharisees did the same. So, what is the difference between them and Jesus Christ? Jesus was what he preached.
I don’t know if you understand me. He preached love and he embodied it; you could see it. That is the difference. The demons that were in the synagogue supported scribes and Pharisees but didn’t do that for Christ. What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? Of course, he came for that purpose; they already knew it. They say to him that they know who he is, the Holy One of God. Notice, who has more faith, you, or the demons? They recognize Jesus Christ, but this is not faith. What a great deception, what a great mistake the devil has done in Christianity. He has led us to believe that to believe he is Jesus Christ is enough. To believe that there exists a man who is named Jesus is faith, not at all, brothers and sisters.
The mafia also believes that Christ exists, and they ask God for a blessing on their work, on their guns and the Taliban does the same. And the Muslims pray more than you and more than me combined and they believe in God and then they kill, they destroy the other, so do they have faith? Absolutely not! What is faith, is it to do good works? Is that faith to be good? There are many people who are much better than us and don’t believe in God. Christianity is not about being good and doing good things; it is something more: it is to love. If I am doing evil, then I am not loving. No matter how much you believe in God and how religious you are because to be a Christian is to love. What is love? Love is Jesus Christ. This is the reason that something inside of you is moved when you meet Christ. You don’t know what to do, you can’t stand evil anymore when you have Christ in your life. He eliminates, gets rid of, he kills those demons.
Look at the authority of Jesus Christ: he says one word, to be quiet and the demon shuts up. The demons come to you and speak; so the first thing you have to tell him is to shut up because he is attacking you. He is talking to you, and you believe him. And how do you know it is the devil? Because the devil is always seeking to divide you…from your spouse or from the priest or from a brother or sister or a neighbor or from your mother-in-law or your father. He is always looking to divide. That is the face of the demon.
Have you heard the devil speak to you? I do. He comes and says beautiful things about you because if he appears with his horns and a tail and a pitchfork in his hand, ugly and smelling of fire, you would send him away. The devil tells you things that you want to hear and that you like to listen to. That is why when you are alone you cannot beat the devil. You cannot even though you go to church. Jesus Christ is in the community. This is where Christ is present and where Christ is present, he can overcome the demons.
When you really listen, you can hear Jesus Christ as well as the devil. Which one do you truly follow? Who did Adam and Eve listen to or who listened to the serpent? Mary listened to the angel sent from God. Between these two women one welcomes the devil and the other Jesus Christ. The one who welcomes the Word welcomes Christ because Christ is the Word. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
This is why today’s psalm makes sense: if you hear his voice do not harden your heart. I am saying this because I hope you listen to the voice of the Lord. God speaks to you everyday and when you hear him do not harden your heart! Listen to him, listen! Resist saying, I want to do my own life, that is to harden your heart. This means that you are God. You think you know what your life should be. It has to be this way and not that way, arrogant, how arrogant! If you lead your own life you will be in hell. If you let the Lord into your life, you will be the happiest man in the world.
What does God want from you? Not to harden your heart. My heart is hard, help me, Lord, you preach to me, you have sent angels into my life to speak to me; help me, Lord. Help send me help in the sacraments, in the Eucharist and in listening to your word. Who am I not to listen to you? The demons are there in the church, relaxed, quiet and in one word Jesus Christ comes. And for some Jesus Christ is present but to others he is not. For some the word comes to exorcise you and take you out of the demon of selfishness and for others, no. For others they are thinking, I hope this ends soon, I am hungry and want to go.
The Lord has done a lot of good for you and he doesn’t force you. We can be like Thomas who says unless I put my finger in his side, I will not believe. Some here see Jesus Christ today and others may not. I hope you have an experience like Thomas who touched the wounds of Christ. He touched his mercy, his love. For some Christ is present, for others, no. This is true because some here are poor and others rich, some are sinners and others are righteous, some are Pharisees and others are publican.
And who does Jesus Christ reveal himself to? The sinner, the poor one. If you are poor today, Jesus Christ will get rid of the devil. He will say, shut up and come out of him and the Lord will make of you a new man. This eucharist has the power to make of you a new man or woman, new, and able to love, with a new heart. He can rebuild the marriage that you destroyed; he can make of you a chaste person. He can make you a holy man, a saint, not a blessed, but a saint.
A saint is not one who is pure, not one who does not commit sins, a saint is one who does not harden his heart when God is speaking to you. He speaks to you every day and speaks to you in your history, in the sickness that you have, in your job, in the problems in your family. He tells you that someone has been unfaithful; he tells you everything so do not harden your heart, listen; he speaks clearly. He speaks to you in the eucharist, on this altar. He is made present here in the word. Let us turn to this banquet that will become present on this altar and in your life because he wants to enter you. He will enter you because you and I need to change, to be changed by Christ.