First Reading – Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests!
wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God!
The house of your God is deprived
of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the elders,
all who dwell in the land,
Into the house of the LORD, your God,
and cry to the LORD!
Alas, the day!
for near is the day of the LORD,
and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all who dwell in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom,
a day of clouds and somberness!
Like dawn spreading over the mountains,
a people numerous and mighty!
Their like has not been from of old,
nor will it be after them,
even to the years of distant generations.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made;
in the snare they set, their foot is caught.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord will judge the world with justice.
Alleluia – John 12:31B-32
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – Luke 11:15-26
When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”
Read Our Latest Posts:
Why the Rosary is the “Weapon”: My Reflection on Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto
If you tell the godless and atheists of this world how Europe triumphed over the evils of the Islamic fleet through a small Catholic alliance, they’d chalk it up to strategy or luck. They can’t fathom how prayer, much less the Rosary, had anything to do with the victory. They dismiss it all as superstition.
But as Catholics, we don’t need God to appear before us and recount the miracle of Lepanto just to believe. What the godless and the atheists call “laughable” was exactly what won the Battle of Lepanto.
My Reflection Mustard See Faith: The Unprofitable Servant
Despite being faithful, we get disheartened. We ask why God allows all this evil. We grow tired of it all and long to hear comforting and assuring words from God — words that say He’s in control, that despite all the evil, He’s on our side, that He loves us, and that He will save us from all the darkness we endure.
Even the apostles, who walked with Jesus and saw Him face-to-face, asked Him to increase their faith.
And now, the question arises: how can we say that we are His family and children — when God calls us unprofitable servants? Isn’t that confusing?
I don’t know about non-Catholics—meaning members of Christian sects, followers of non-Christian religions, and even atheists—but one thing I’ve consistently noticed about the Catholics I have known, including me, particularly those who attend Mass and practice devotions, or are considered practicing Catholics, is that they seem to be spared from utter destruction, downfall, or ruin. Most of us Catholics are never completely overcome by misfortune.
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