Reflection for THURSDAY, 3rd Week of Lent
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore
Today's Gospel Verses
Luke 11:14-23
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Today's Reflection
To have two ears and one mouth could mean that practically speaking we should listen more than we speak.
Even in learning a language, we have to listen first before we can reproduce the sounds of the language.
So in order to listen, we have to be silent. It is not that possible to be listening and speaking at the same time.
In the 1st reading, God gave this order to His people: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper.
But God's people did not listen, they did not pay attention, they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts and turned their backs on God.
So when we don't listen to God, then what we listening to will be the voices from our own corrupted and twisted hearts.
In the gospel, the people saw Jesus casting out a devil, but instead of trying to understand what really happened, some of them said a wicked thing, that it was through the the prince of devils that Jesus cast out devils.
God speaks to us through our experiences, through our encounters with others, and through our prayer and reflections.
May we truly listen deeply so that we will be in union with Jesus and with Him we will speak words that will gather people in the love of God.
Jesus asks of us to stand with him as agents of Righteousness. Peace and Justice.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice safe day
Let's pray for our Priests and Religious so that they may become Icons of Mercy.