Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Luke 4: 31-37
September 02, 2025 | Tuesday

Today’s Gospel

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings.

They were astonished at the way he taught them, for his word was spoken with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I recognize you: you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm.

Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!” And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.

Today’s Reflection

Our Psalm today proclaims, “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” And the Gospel shows us one of his great deeds, commanding even evil spirits. Such is the greatness that our God has. His command over the world, over darkness and light, over good and evil, over everything, is ever present and real. And his promise to come and judge all people is likewise imminent. Thus, St. Paul reminds the Thessalonians to remain steadfast in the faith and to strengthen one another. However, it is sad to know that even if the Lord has shown us his greatness throughout history, humanity still fails to listen and obey him. A priest once commented that sometimes the devil is better than man, for at least the devil recognizes Jesus as the Lord. Jesus constantly teaches us the Good News of our salvation. And we have listened to so many of his teachings. But the greatest of these is sometimes the most often overlooked –that He is our Salvation; that Jesus is the Good News of our Salvation. It is only when we recognize and accept this message that we can, with great faith, realize what the psalmist proclaims: we can see the good deeds of the Lord in the land of the living.

/Vulnerasti, 2025