Thursday in the Third Week of Lent, March 11, 2021

Luke 11:14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.” The Lord’s words apply to any kingdom, nation, or organization, including the Church.  While the Church has endured heresies and schisms, these have been recognized as such and fought against through preaching and prayer, and the Church has remained one.  If a competing set of beliefs was maintained by a bishop or a group of bishops and this situation was tolerated by the Pope, the Church would be divided against itself and would fall apart.  Although this has not happened, we ought to pray regularly for the unity of the Church, for as long as the Church exists on earth, the devil will seek to undermine and destroy it.

“When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.”  The Lord warns the Church and its members — the “strong man” — to keep constant vigilance, for its goods are attractive to the wicked and its “despoiling” would lead to the loss of very many souls, as well as to the final wreck of what remains today of civilization.  The Church indeed is strong through its holiness; the spread of its doctrine throughout the world; its apostolic origins, which are clear for anyone to see; and its unity in Christ.  This unity can be lost through the embrace of false teaching by the Church and by the defection of its members into lives dedicated to sin.  By our personal holiness and conformity to the doctrine taught by Jesus through the Church, each of us contributes to the unity and strength of the Church.  The “strong man” fails not because someone becomes stronger, but because the strong man becomes weak.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  We see here our need to “gather” with the Lord.  He teaches us how to do this and he gives us the grace so that we can do this.  By “gathering” he means spreading the Gospel through our deeds and words, and especially by our prayers for the conversion of the world.  In carrying this out, we will ourselves be gathered to the Lord to be with him forever.