Fr Kevin Kilgore

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“In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out in a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?'” (Luke 4:34)

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Good and evil don’t mix.

So why is there a demon the synagogue?

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Surely this demon isn’t there to listen to Jesus. 

If anything, it protests Christ’s presence, saying, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

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Perhaps Luke includes this story in his Gospel to teach us a lesson on evil.

If we shaped our view of evil by watching Hollywood horror films, then we could conclude that evil only lurks in the darkness – in the sewer, in the woods, in a graveyard, in a prison.

But this demon is in a synagogue, a holy place!

If demons can appear in the house of God, then they can appear anywhere at any time – even in our own lives.

How often does evil appear in the form of anxiety, depression, addiction, cancer, and even natural disasters? 

Think of Hurricane Dorian – no one’s calling that storm a blessing. 

Sadly, evil surfaces everywhere – most often without our willing it. It’s part of living in a fallen world.

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But here’s the important point for us. Instead of asking, “Why is there evil in the world?” We should ask ourselves, “How do I confront it?”

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Turn to Jesus.

The same God who cast that demon out in the synagogue can cure our cancer, relieve our depression, and heal our addictions. 

Though there’s no guarantee, if we never ask, we’ll never know.

Remember, all healing begins with the belief in Christ’s power to save.

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Saint Paul is the first author in the New Testament to write about death.

As he says in our first reading, “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

This is key.

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Paul says death is like falling asleep, meaning you and I will enter into a state in which we can be re-awakened. Think of death as like taking a nap.

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Doesn’t God teach us about the truth of the resurrection each and every night? What was the last thing you did last night? 

You fell asleep.

And the first thing you did this morning? 

You got up. You resurrected.

God has written the pattern of death and resurrection into our daily lives! We rest, we rise…we rest, we rise… we die, we resurrect. 

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If you’re thirty years old, then it’s a pattern you’ve practiced some 10,950 times.

If you’re forty, then you’ve done it some 14,600 times.

Fifty? 18, 250 times.

Sixty? 21,900 times.

And so on.

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We shouldn’t be afraid, then, because God has the last word in our lives.

Saint Paul tells us that word will be: Rise.

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There’s been a running joke lately about who’s been away more, Father Dan or me.

Monsignor – ever the worker bee – just smiles and says, “The boys are away.”

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Speaking of vacations… some of you know I was in Ireland recently, and while there I celebrated Mass in Limerick. 

But I noticed something unusual in the church – each pew had a family name plate attached.

When I asked the pastor why, he said the pews dated back to the days when seats were auctioned. The pews in the back went to the highest bidder – and those in the front to the lowest bidder.

“But why would someone pay to have a back row seat?” I asked.

He winked at me and said, “Humility.”

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Humility.

It’s not a word we use often today. Some people, for example, think being humble means being a doormat or denying our self-worth. 

But that’s not what Jesus means. 

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The best definition of humility I’ve ever heard comes from C.S. Lewis, who once said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself – less.”

Humility is thinking of yourself – less.

People who think of themselves less are often the ones with the best relationships with others and with the Lord himself, because they recognize who they are in the bigger scheme of things.

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What does a humble person look like, practically?

It’s the mother who makes do with less fashionable clothing so that her children may not be out of style.

She is the best-dressed woman in the kingdom of God.

It’s the father who forgoes a round of golf to attend his child’s school concert. He is better than par as a Christian.

It’s the co-worker who concedes a trivial argument to promote peace in the workplace. That person is always right before God.

It’s the athlete who does not rejoice in the error of her opponent. She’s the winner of eternal glory.

It’s the person who does not take offense at every casual remark or trivial gesture. 

In that sense, humility is the enemy of over-sensitivity, one of the defining characteristics of American society today. 

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The opposite of humility is pride, thinking my needs are somehow more important than yours.

It’s a temptation that plays itself out, even subtly, throughout our day. 

Think of the guest in the Gospel who takes the highest seat of honor without asking. He just presumes he deserves it.

That’s pride.

Pride is also the person driving aggressively on the Parkway as if there’s no one else on the road.

It’s the person who always needs to be right, the one who must be recognized, who must be first in line or have the last word.

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Is that person ever me?

I know at times I’m guilty.

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Perhaps the back pews in that church from Ireland were considered “prime real estate” because the pastor could never see whether you were there or not. 

So long as you made your donation you were “blessed.” 

But that’s not how we become blessed in the eyes of the Lord, who doesn’t look into our pockets; he looks into our hearts.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,” he says. “But everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

How, then, can we think of ourselves less and more of others?