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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The devils…


In the Gospel, Mary Magdalene, from whom seven devils had been cast out, is now following Jesus.

There was a story I read about a “gospel” written by a modern woman. The story said that the Lord saw a woman with seven devils, and He said to her, “I will cast out all seven devils in you.”

The woman looked at the Lord and hesitantly asked, “Lord, may I ask favor from you?” The Lord said, “What is it?” And the woman said, “Would You please cast out only six?”

That is our reality. The reality that we want to be healed , yet we keep one little demon within us. We want to be healed, and we say, “Lord, heal me,” yet we refuse to let go of one very unpleasant temptation. Perhaps we don’t like to let go of an old grudge, or a comfortable habit.
This is why healing cannot be complete. It is because we entertain little devils despite the fact that the bigger devils have been cast away by the Lord.

Mary Magdalene was honest enough with herself. She had seven devils. She called each one of them by name, then asked the Lord to heal her of all her seven devils. Not six, not five.

Today, as we are preparing the final day of the great Holy Thursday of Jesus’ Passion, let me advise you to pause for a little silence wherever you are and recount and make an inventory of the devils you may be keeping in your hearts.

Perhaps, it could be the devil of unchastity, the devil of untruthfulness, the devil of slander and gossip, the devil of gluttony, the devil of avarice and greed, the devil of lying, the devil of worshipping false gods, or the devil of love of money.
Make an inventory of all the devils you carry within your heart. It is not difficult to do it.

Then let us ask ourselves, “Which of these devils am I most comfortable with? Which of these devils am I hesitant to part with? Which of these devils have I started to love? Which of these devils have become too pleasant?

Then ask the Lord, “Lord heal me. Cast out all my evils. Do not leave anyone of them in my heart.”
If we can do that, the Lord will not snob what we ask Him to do. He is our Redeemer and Savior.

Let us meditate and reflect on our big and little devils and let God cast them away from our hearts completely as we recall His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the following prayers:
Lord, give me chastity, but not yet! or Lord give me patience, NOW!
Have a nice day Dom.

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