The first reading for mass today talks about peace and security and warns us about the possibility of sudden destruction from which there will be no escape. This sounds a lot like the possibility of war that is brewing in our world right now. It is a very serious matter. War can affect the entire world and cause such terrible suffering, yet to not go to war could also cause more suffering too. To kill breaks the fifth commandment “thou shalt not kill” yet to not do so, allows evil and more suffering to prevail in our world. The Catholic Catechism on when war is justified can be found here: (cc: 2307 – 2309).
War is a very serious moral consideration. Some of the guidelines for a just war are basically that all other means of putting an end to the situation must have been shown to be ineffective, and the use of arms must not produce evils graver than the evil that is to be eliminated. World War II was a just war because of the slaughter of six million Jews and the certainty that the killing would have continued without intervention.
The first reading also says though that “God has destined us not for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In that same vein of thought, we can view Christ’s actions in the synagogue, when evil got out of hand in today’s gospel. There was actually a demon in a person right there in the synagogue. The demon started putting up a fuss, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us?” “Have you come to destroy us?” When Christ commanded the evil spirits to leave the man, the demon threw the man on the ground and left him without doing any harm. The people were amazed and said “What kind of utterance is this?”
Christ’s example in the gospel today was the path of non-violence and diplomacy. It is the first step toward dealing with evil of any kind, whether it is in our families, communities, our country or world affairs. The path that does the least harm, or no harm, should be attempted first and this is within keeping of the Catechism of our church as well.
One other thing that is worth noting is that Christ did not ignore the man when the evil spirit within him began crying out for him to leave them alone. Jesus didn’t just walk away and leave the townspeople to deal with this man themselves. He addressed the situation immediately.
Let us pray today for world leaders to rely on God’s guidance in their decision making and not on their own inclinations. The good of many people and nations are at stake and the decisions leaders make can even affect the entire world. Today, the people of our world and our nations’ leaders need our prayers.
There is a sentence in today’s first reading to be mindful of though. “But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief, for you are all children of light and children of the day: we are not of the night or of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”
No one knows when the Lord will return at the end of time and no one would really ever think it could be in our lifetime. But, if it were to happen, it should not catch us by surprise. Luke 21:20 says “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that it’s desolation is at hand.” Matthew 24: 15-22 also speaks of this future occurrence as well and also goes on to tell us that the great tribulation will be as such that has not been seen since the beginning of the world. Catholics do not worry about “the end times” like some Protestant denominations do. However, we should be mindful of the fact that our lives do not last forever, and sudden destruction is always a possibility in our lives. That is why we should go to mass, regular confession and do what the last sentence of the first reading says today:
“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”
Hopefully, we are already living as children of the light.
