Faith in Jesus brings us into the kingdom of God. In this respect, today’s scripture readings tell us how important “faith” is. In fact, St Paul reminds the Galatians that those who have faithare blessed along with Abraham who believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So you see those who believe are descendants of Abraham, including the gentiles. Abraham is the father of all believers. He believed against hope. In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to those who doubted His authority to cast out demons who said: “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons”. Jesus answered them saying: “If I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? … But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you”. Surely, the power of Jesus is stronger than anything the world or the devil can do.
The Gospel of today is a challenge to each one of us, whether we are with Christ or against Him, that is, gathering or scattering. I wonder whether we are a true follower of Him or not. We can ask ourselves: Are we with Christ in our thoughts and words and in the ups and downs daily life? What further signs do I need or else I become like the Pharisees and lawyer who constantly denied the truth in the daylight? When I honestly try to enter into my inner thoughts and the depth of my heart, I will certainly come to the knowledge of God and his works. In that way, I don’t give opportunity to be under the dominion of Satan.
In the end, because Christ lives and is working in us with His Living Words and His Church, we are blessed to believe and move by Him, the source of our life. St Paul says: “If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity thananyone else in all the world” (See 1Cor 15:19).