Daily Readings - Fri Oct 13 2017

First Reading - Joel 1.13-15; 2.1-2

¹³Priests, gird yourselves and lament. Ministers of the altars, wail. Enter, ministers of my God, lie in sackcloth. For sacrifice and libation have passed away from the house of your God¹⁴Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God. And cry out to the Lord¹⁵"Ah, ah, ah, the day!" For the day of the Lord is near, and it will arrive, like a devastation, before the powerful

Chapter 2

¹Blow the trumpet in Zion, wail on my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land be stirred up. For the day of the Lord is on its way; for it is near²a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and whirlwinds. Like the morning reaching over the mountains, they are a numerous and strong people. Nothing like them has existed since the beginning, nor will exist after them, even in the years of generation upon generation

Gospel - Luke 11.15-26

Luke

Chapter 11

¹⁵But some of them said, "It is by Beelzebub, the leader of demons, that he casts out demons.¹⁶And others, testing him, required a sign from heaven of him¹⁷But when he perceived their thoughts, he said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself will become desolate, and house will fall upon house¹⁸So then, if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebub that I cast out demons¹⁹But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges²⁰Moreover, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then certainly the kingdom of God has overtaken you²¹When a strong armed man guards his entrance, the things that he possesses are at peace²²But if a stronger one, overwhelming him, has defeated him, he will take away all his weapons, in which he trusted, and he will distribute his spoils²³Whoever is not with me, is against me. And whoever does not gather with me, scatters²⁴When an unclean spirit has departed from a man, he walks through waterless places, seeking rest. And not finding any, he says: ‘I will return to my house, from which I departed.²⁵And when he has arrived, he finds it swept clean and decorated²⁶Then he goes, and he takes in seven other spirits with him, more wicked than himself, and they enter and live there. And so, the end of that man is made worse than the beginning.

Sermon

The readings today invite us to reflect on the urgency of repentance and the reality of spiritual warfare. In the first reading from Joel, we hear a call to lamentation and fasting as the day of the Lord approaches. Joel paints a vivid picture of a people unprepared for the judgment that is near, urging them to gather and cry out to God. This is not a call to fear, but to conversion—a reminder that our lives must be oriented toward God if we are to stand firm when the day of reckoning comes. In the Gospel, Jesus confronts the accusations of those who attribute His power to cast out demons to Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Jesus’ response is both a rebuke and a revelation. He points out the absurdity of Satan working against himself, and then shifts the focus to the true nature of His mission: the kingdom of God has come upon them. The parable of the strong man and the unclean spirit drives home the point that to be neutral in this spiritual battle is to be complicit in evil. Jesus makes it clear: we are either gathering with Him or scattering; there is no middle ground. These readings challenge us to examine our own lives. Are we prepared to meet the Lord? Are we actively aligning ourselves with His will, or are we passively allowing the forces of darkness to take hold? Joel’s call to repentance and Jesus’ warning about spiritual complacency remind us that our faith must be lived with urgency and intentionality. Let us not be like the man who, having been freed from an unclean spirit, leaves his house empty and unguarded. Instead, let us fill our hearts with the presence of God, through prayer, repentance, and a life of love. The kingdom of God is near; let us be ready.