Reflection for THURSDAY, 3rd Week of Lent.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar
Today's Gospel Verses
Luke 11:14-23
Know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you
Jesus was casting out a devil and it was dumb; but when the devil had gone out the dumb man spoke, and the people were amazed. But some of them 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.’ 
Reflection on the readings
When we say that someone is our good friend, it means that there are certain things in common between us and that person.
Good friends have these in common: honesty and sincerity, trust and understanding, listening to each other, accepting correction, loyalty and respect, among other things.
When there is trust and respect, when friends listen to each other, then the friendship will grow and deepen into a good friendship.
When God made a covenant with His people, He wanted to be their God and He wanted them to be His chosen people.
All that God asked of His people is that they listen to Him and follow His ways.
But as we heard from the 1st reading, the people did not listen to God, nor paid attention to Him.
They didn’t even respect God and they didn’t even treat Him as a friend.
Jesus came to be our Saviour, our Brother and as a friend so as to lead us to a relationship with God, a relationship that is deeper than just being good friends with God.
Let us have respect for Jesus because He is our Saviour and Brother, and who died on the Cross to save us from our sins.
Let us listen to Him as He teaches us the ways of truth and love.
And by our response to Jesus, we will know if we are with Him or against Him
We will know if we are gathering others for Jesus, or going against Jesus by dividing and scattering.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.