STANDING BY FAITH IN THE WORD

TUESDAY, FIFTENTH WEEK IN ORDERINARY TIME

Isa 7:1-9; Ps 48:2-8; Mt 11:20-21

Defence of Our Spiritual Life 

We cannot underestimate the corruptive influence of the devil, the ancient serpent, and its worldly minions. An example of its power to seduce, corrupt, and destroy the structure planted in us by the word of God is seen in the story of Israel during the time of Elijah the prophet. To imagine that the nation saved from slavery in Egypt and settled in the Promised Land of Canaan was corrupted by the forces of idolatry is unimaginable. They had the Commandments and the prophets ministering the will of God to them. Yet, the country and its people became so far removed from God that there were four hundred and fifty (450) prophets of Baal and only one prophet of God, Elijah the prophet. How did it happen that the people redeemed and called by God’s name ended up having more prophets of Baal than prophets of God? It was a gradual corruption and departure from God that started with King Solomon. He admitted different demons in the name of gods due to his weakness with women. Once these demons found dwelling places among the people of God, it was just a matter of time for their corruptive influence to spread and destroy the divine structure in and among the people. The decay of the northern kingdom was accelerated by the kings who prohibited the people from visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. This hastened the erection of pseudo-temples and idols among the people. By the time of King Ahab, the worship of Baal was well established among the people. The Queen, Jezebel, was the daughter of Ethbaal, the priest of Baal.

Knowing the power of the devil to corrupt human minds with whom he interacts, God willed to safeguard the redeemed by establishing perpetual enmity between the Woman and the devil. The enmity characterises the redeemed who constitute her offspring in Jesus Christ. Once our interaction with God is consistent and frequent, in vain do the devil and his demons fight against us. A house, city, kingdom, or nation established on the word of God stands firm forever. The throne of David was established on the word of God, but it always needed a person with faith as the king sitting on the throne and a people of faith trusting in God for the realisation and safety of the Davidic dynasty. Thus, when the kings of Aram and Israel besieged Jerusalem during the reign of Ahaz, the Lord sent Isaiah to admonish the king and the people to have faith in God. He said to him: “Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have plotted to ruin you, and have said: let us invade Judah and terrorise it and seize it for ourselves, and set up a king there, the son of Tabeel.” This was the will of the devil and the evil men he works with. But that was not the will of God for Jerusalem. The king and the people of Judah needed faith to realise the divine will in their lives.

The greatest power of the devil is deception or lies. He terrorises us by presenting lies in place of the truth of the word of God. To interact with the devil and his worldly minions is to feed consistently on lies and build our lives on illusions and lies. We are already destroyed by doing so, for we miss out on the truth and life that come from God. Just as the responsory says: “God upholds his city forever.” The reticence of the cities: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, the Lord reproached in the Gospel, was caused by this devilish deception, by which he offers us a life of comfort without God. “Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would heave repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement Day with Tyre and Sidon as with you.” When we surround ourselves with worldly friends, comforts, and pleasures, we think less of God and his will for us. The path to a deeper relationship and conformity with God is that of estrangement from the world and its prince of lies. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we must make meditation and contemplation of the word of God our habitual preoccupation, even in our daily occupations. A life characterised as such is like Mount Zion. “Mount Zion, true pole of the earth, the Great King’s city! God, in the midst of its citadels, has shown himself its stronghold.”

Let us pray: O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honour. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.