{"id":2917,"date":"2021-01-28T15:45:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T14:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=2917"},"modified":"2021-01-28T15:45:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T14:45:28","slug":"fourth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-mk-121-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=2917","title":{"rendered":"Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mk 1,21-28"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Christ came to deliver us from the Devil and sin (Mark 1: 21-28) Realize that you can live without sin.<\/h2>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, today is characterized by a great plurality of sins. The performance of Jesus Christ is an example to us, for he was sent to redeem us from the bondage of sin.<\/h2>\n
Jesus Christ heals a man possessed by an evil spirit. The gospel tells us how the listeners in the synagogue of Capernaum marveled at the teachings of Jesus. They were in the presence of Jesus when, with his powerful word, he freed man from an impure spirit who was suffering from a terrible ailment of obsession. This liberation of man from the impure spirit stunned them. Until then, the impure spirit was the greatest and most terrible power they encountered in their daily lives because, at that time, many people were possessed by the impure spirit. The listeners in the synagogue recognized that Jesus had power, was more powerful, and cried out, “He also commands by an unclean spirit and obeys him” (Mark 1:27). And there was a swift spread throughout the land, that a mighty Jesus had come to deliver the people from sin.<\/h2>\n
This victory over the impure spirit is further evidence of the Messiah’s coming, who came to free the people from the oldest bondage of the devil and sin. John Paul II says that an evil spirit can act not only on material things but also on the human body, where it also affects the human soul, and here we can talk about possession of an impure spirit. In the Gospels, obsession is usually accompanied by morbid symptoms. From the time of Christ’s coming, the devil must make concessions, even though he has great power, and his presence is real in proportion to the extent to which man and society move away from God. Through mortal sin, many people submit to the devil’s bondage, moving away from the kingdom of God to enter the kingdom of darkness and evil. These people are becoming instruments of the devil in the world. The fact that God’s kingdom is open to everyone, that God always has an open door for man is the reason why many people still love God today. They love him most because he ended salvation with his death and resurrection. Thus, he gained us eternal life, the grace of the remission of sins and conversion. The stream of God’s grace flows into the heart at every sacrament of reconciliation. When a priest makes a cross over a repentant sinner in a shaded confession, the greatest wonder of the supernatural world takes place. The two oceans, the ocean of our misery, connect with the boundless ocean of God’s mercy. We must remain vigilant to recognize and reject the lies of a tempter who continues to decide to harm us. He knows that we have a propensity for evil as a result of inherited sin; we are vulnerable in our passions and exposed to attacks of lust and the devil. A person’s whole life seems like a constant struggle between good and evil. In fact, one finds that he cannot effectively overcome the plots of evil on his own so that everyone feels chained. Therefore, we must adapt the proper importance of Christ’s last prayer, which he taught us in our Father’s prayer: “… free us from evil” (Mt 6:13). We must keep our lust in check and fight the harmful influence of the ever-lurking devil with God’s help.<\/h2>\n
The holy Aryan parish priest John Mary Vianney once told the children a story he had invented: The two-year-old girl was in the field. A wolf ran out of the forest. He grabbed the little girl by the dress with his teeth and pulled him away. Her father and the men who worked in the fields noticed. They took the sticks, and all ran after the wolf. They overtook him, surrounded him, and forced him to leave the prey. They saved the poor girl. He explained his story as follows: The wolf represents the great enemy of our soul. The little girl represents us and our weakness, our affection for sin. The Father and the men represent Jesus Christ, our Savior. The stick represents the power of Jesus Christ, which saves our souls in the sacrament of reconciliation. The joy of the saviors is the joy of Jesus Christ over the conversion of the sinner.<\/h2>\n
Each of us should embrace the lamentation of the prophet Jeremiah, who has a strong sense of repentance and satisfaction: \u201cBe astonished at this, O heavens, and be astonished exceedingly, saith the Lord. My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, a fountain of living waters, to dig up cracked cisterns that cannot sustain water.<\/h2>\n
In this special historical event spoken to us by the gospel, brothers, and sisters, we can all see in the light of faith possessed every sinner who wants to turn to God, every sinner who wants to be freed from Satan and sin. Jesus did not come to deliver us from the dominion of nations but the captivity of the soul. Let us ask God for mercy so that we do not fall into unfaithfulness, into which he who dares to be unfaithful from the very beginning dares to encourage us. Let us be encouraged by the words of Blessed Pope John XXIII: “Even though evil is an unfortunate reality, today, as well as yesterday, it can never – and we know it well – overcome good.”<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"