First reading Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2
Let all tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming
Priests, put on sackcloth and lament.
Ministers of the altar, wail.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God.
For the house of our God has been deprived
of oblation and libation.
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn assembly;
elders, call together
all the inhabitants of the country
to the house of the Lord your God.
Cry out to the Lord,
‘Oh, what a day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
it comes as a devastation from Shaddai.’
Sound the trumpet in Zion,
give the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming,
yes, it is near.
Day of darkness and gloom,
day of cloud and blackness.
Like the dawn there spreads across the mountains
a vast and mighty host,
such as has never been before,
such as will never be again
to the remotest ages.
Responsorial Psalm 9A(9):2-3,6,16,8-9
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever.
He has set up his throne for judgement;
he will judge the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Gospel Luke 11:15-26
The finger of God has overtaken you
When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.
‘When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to the home I came from.” But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.’
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The finger of God
“Jesus went through Galilee…proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the peoples” (Matthew 4:23). Jesus, through His words and actions, revealed a God who suffered with those who were in pain and desired to bring healing and liberation to them. Yet, some people asked for a sign from Jesus to prove that God was working in and through Him. They could not see the good that Jesus was doing because of their hardness of heart. Jesus defended Himself by pointing out that it was by the “finger of God” that He did what He did. The “finger of God” symbolises God´s power that works to liberate people from the evil of suffering and injustice.
Today’s gospel reminds us that we must not be blind to the good in people. The “finger of God” continues to be at work when we choose to be His instruments to do good, to alleviate the suffering of others and work for a more liberated life for our brothers and sisters. May we rejoice in God’s presence in and among us and give thanks for the good that He is doing.
Question for reflection:
How can I be an instrument of God today?
How can I be an instrument of God today?
