Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

The Gospel of today is a reminder to all its hearers that Christ was not simply a wandering Mandalorian teacher. Jesus is the co-eternal Son of God, and all beings, even the demons, come under his feet. “A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed.” Jesus casts out demons because even demons depend on him to exist: eternally gritting their teeth in hatred of him and his Church, they can only scurry away in urgent terror whenever he is near. For they cannot bear his goodness, and his creative hand in the sacraments. This is why Catholics, although aware of demons, need never fear them as long as they live the commandments and the sacraments - for they are out of Satan’s reach, and there is nothing he can do.