Today we reflect on a Gospel we have heard before about how “demons” or evil spirits operate. The Lord reminds that when God frees us from any bondage or oppression, we need to fill our hearts or lives with something new and positive. He warns us about the vulnerability of an “empty house” or heart.
A Caution Against an Empty Heart
People can be spiritually oppressed by different types of “demons.” We can also refer to these “demons” as evil impulses, evil tendencies, or sinful habits. We can be oppressed by the “spirit” of gossip, the spirit of greed, the spirit of pride, the spirit of lust, the spirit of envy, the spirit of gluttony, the spirit of lying, the spirit of anger, the spirit of abusiveness, the demon of hatred, the evil spirit of bigotry, or be possessed by a “demon” of excessive and pointless criticism. Through the Sacrament of Confession and through prayer the Lord can break our chains from any of these “demons” and provide freedom to us. Our lives, our hearts, or our “house” can be made clean and empty.
However, the Lord cautions us that an “empty house” or an empty life, or an empty heart is vulnerable to newer attacks if we do not fill our hearts with something new and positive. Otherwise we can easily fall into the same old habits or tendencies we struggled with earlier. For instance, if for long we struggled with the demon of greed, we need to actively find ways of engaging in acts of charity and service to others. If we struggled in the past with gossip, we need to find ways of actively engaging in speaking words of support, praise, and encouragement to someone else. If we struggled in the past with pride or hubris, we need to find a way of practicing some level of humility in both word and gesture.
Filling Our Hearts with the Good
It is not enough to stop committing a sin, we have to actively start doing something positive in the space that was vacated by whatever “demon” we struggled with. If we don’t do that, the enemy can exploit our fragility or unresolved weakness, and we fall back into the same old tendencies in a manner that can be worse even than what it used to be!
What evil spirit or sinful tendencies or habits I am I struggling with at this time? What do I need to bring before the Lord in the Sacrament of Confession or prayer so that God’s grace provides freedom to me? What can I actively do to work towards virtue and freedom away from the evil/sinful tendency?
May we in this Mass ask the Lord to grant us His grace so that we can walk in His light and freedom. May we be renewed so that we actively commit ourselves to a life of service, prayer, sacrifice, devotional activities, and regular meditation on the Word of God. Amen.
