the face of evil - 1st week tuesday 2018

Immediately after the Baptism of the Lord which inaugurates his public ministry the gospel of Mark directs our attention to the expulsion of the evil spirit possessing the man.  It is the inaugural work of Jesus.  In a commentary of Jerome, he says that in arranging the events that transpired in the life of Jesus, Mark quits the order of the history of the events as they happened but follows the order of the mysteries.  Indi na sia pasunod as it happened in the life of Jesus, pero gin-una ni San Marcos kon ano ang makapahayag sang misteryo sang kabuhi kag misyon ni Kristo.  And what is this singular event that summarizes so to say the purpose why Jesus came into the world?  The expulsion, the driving away of the evil spirit or simply called the exorcism.  Jesus did this to free us from the grasp of evil and its power in us.  And this is the primary purpose and mission of Jesus.  And so also this should be a major preoccupation in our lives.

Most of the time we only think of possession of the evil spirit in terms of what we see in the movies – nagamudlo ang mata, nagalaway, super human strength, frightening etc.  And we are afraid of this.  But there are other manifestations of possessions of evil in our lives that are subtle but should be equally scary.  Greed is one sa bagay nga nabulag ka na bisan pa illegal ukon unjust obrahon mo just to get more.  So also are illicit relationships sa bagay nga bisan luyag mo na nga mag-guwa sa sina nga relationship, budlayan ka na.  Or you are set into a pattern of thinking that you are a good for nothing person, you are worthless, you are bad and you will remain bad forever – this too is a possession which enslaves you to live a life that does not anymore entertain change and growth.  Or one becomes addicted to gossiping or one gets a boost whenever he puts down other people; or one can get entangled in one’s anger, and hatred.  These are all possessions of the evil one, a sign of its presence and hold in our lives.

There are two sacraments in the church in which Jesus exorcises or continues to drive away the hold of evil in our lives.  Baptism has an exorcism.  It reminds us that the evil one has a hold and continues to have a hold in our lives.  And early on, bata pa kita ginasugdan na naton ini tabog.  And the second sacrament which has an exorcism is confessions.  Every time we go to confession we are expunging the evil that lurks and veers its ugly head in our hearts, in how we think, in decisions we make, in our emotions, in our values.

So it is important to be aware of the primary task of Jesus in our midst.  He came that we may be set free from the clutches of the evil one that continues to take hold of us.