The question we should ask ourselves is: ever since Easter, have we been living a life renewed in Christ—Jesus, our resurrected Lord—and a renewed life in the Spirit that was bestowed upon us at Pentecost?
For if we are, then we would demonstrate the joy of the gospel that is life in the living Lord. As we walk about, looking for those the Lord sends our way to minister to, we will be recognized by our works in the Spirit, and no evil will befall us, for the evil spirits will stay clear of us.
Empowered by Jesus, our Lord, we will bring about deliverance, healing, peace, mercy, love, and joy—all for the glory of our Lord. Amen.
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First reading
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ·
The Spirit reaches even the depths of God
The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.
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Gospel
Luke 4:31-37
‘I know who you are: the Holy One of God’
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.
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