Gospel: September 2, 2025
September 2, 2025 (Tuesday)
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
1st Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11
You do not need anyone to write to you about the delay, and the appointed time for these events. You know, that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people feel secure, and at peace, the disaster will suddenly come upon them, as the birth pangs of a woman in labor, and they will not escape. But you, beloved, are not in darkness; so that day will not surprise you like a thief. All of you are citizens of the light and the day; we do not belong to night and darkness. Let us not, therefore, sleep as others do, but remain alert and sober. For God has not willed us to be condemned, but to win salvation, through Christ Jesus, our Lord. He died for us, so that, we might enter into life, with him, whether we are still awake or already asleep. Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, as you are doing now.
Gospel: Luke 4:31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings. They were astonished at the way he taught them, for his word was spoken with authority.
In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I recognize you: you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm. Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”
And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.
Reflection:
“Be silent and leave this man!”
The man in the synagogue is living a tortured existence, condemned to struggle under the shadow of the evil spirit that’s controlling his life. Evil is a negation or absence of good. Evil turns things sour, as it’s a misuse of the good things that God has bestowed upon us. It’s a misuse of our freedom, too: choosing the fruitless over the fruitful or the selfish over the selfless. The man in the Gospel is in an even worse state, as he has surrendered his will to evil, and now he can’t free himself from his plight. Who can free this man? Only God can liberate us from sin and evil, giving us a share in the freedom that comes from being his children. Jesus gives the divine command, “Be silent and leave this man!”, and the man is free once more. Jesus, “the Holy One of God,” shows his divine nature and his divine power. He is the light that darkness cannot overcome (Jn 1:5), and as “citizens of the light” we are to remain in his light if we are to take the right path and make the right choices. “We do not belong to night and darkness.”
