Homily For Monday of The Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 31st January, 2022. The Memorial of St. John Bosco

 Homily For Monday of The Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 31st January, 2022. The Memorial of St. John Bosco

Readings: 2 Sam. 15:13-14.30,16:5-13; Ps.3; Mark 5:1-20

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LORD, LET YOUR PRESENCE DRIVE AWAY THE EVIL FORCES AROUND US

There is no doubt that there is an active presence of evil in the world, which manifest itself in different forms and occasions. This is really obvious in the time of Jesus, for he seemed to have lived in a world of hostility; political and family divisions as well as the conflict between good and evil just like we have in our world today. Thus, everyday is a struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them.

Hence in our Gospel passage today, we heard how the presence of Jesus terrifies the evil ones which has possessed a man for a long time and have been tormenting the community. This unclean spirits were so fierce that no one could pass that way. So when the man saw Jesus, he ran to him and said: ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!’ For Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man and they came out from the men and immediately entered the swine and the swine rushed into the lake and perished in the water.

Here, we are called to recognize that the presence of Jesus in the world brings about victory over the evil ones, for demons recognize Jesus as the power of God. And his power over demons is a direct defeat of the evil one. While the restoration of the man possessed, signifies the inauguration of God's kingdom in the world and the healing of God’s people, who had sinned and disobeyed God by abandoning his precepts and laws, preferring instead the wicked ways of life and worldly practices which leads to destruction.

 Just as we heard in our first reading today concerning the crises in the household of King David. For David a great warrior and a man after God’s own heart had been reduced to object of mockery by his own very subjects, because of his sin against God and his neighbour. And the worst of it is that his very son was the instrument of his own destruction. But in all these David still hope in the Lord’s mercy and sees his present situation as a sign of God’s rebuking him for his sins. 

Dear friends, today each and every one of us are called to seek good and not evil, to promote justice and integrity, knowing that no matter how great our sins may have been, God alone has the power to heal us and to bring us back to himself. And Jesus has given us the gift of his presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, which God has bestowed on us in our baptism. In this gift resides the power and authority to confront the evil of this world and overcome it. For Jesus has won the greatest victory for us by setting us free from sickness, evil forces and manipulations of the evil ones. And he desires to be with us as we struggle everyday to overcome the evils in our lives, our families, our societies and the world at large.

Therefore, we should not be afraid to stand firm against the manipulations of the devil, because Jesus will not abandon us in this battle of life. Let us then learn from St. John Bosco whose memorial we celebrate today for despite the challenges and oppositions he faced in life, he remained committed to his work as a priest and made great impacts in the lives the youths of his time and even in our time for through many people who sharing in his spirituality, he founded the Order of the Salesians of Don Bosco, one of the great religious orders in our society today.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, the world is full of evil and wickedness, give us the grace to seek what is good and hate what is evil, and as we struggle everyday to do your will, may your presence be felt and drive away all evil forces in our midst through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you God’s favour and blessings.