This is the synagogue in Capernaum, Catholic Pilgrims, from our Gospel reading today.
It’s scary to think of people with unclean spirits in them. As scary as it is, we are being bombarded with the demonic pretty consistently now in our culture. Nobody is even trying to be subtle about it anymore.
Build-A-Bear has a new devil bear out just in time for Valentine’s Day. For Valentine’s Day? Sure, that makes sense.
I was just watching a video trailer on a new cartoon coming out on Disney where Satan is the victim. Poor guy, he had some “fascinating ideas” and since the “beings of light” didn’t understand him, he was left out and cast out of the nice place.
My daughter’s friend was at a coffee shop recently and took a picture of a woman practicing witchcraft on a table near her. She had all her gear set up on her table “altar.”
My husband and I walked into a Barnes and Nobles during Christmas and, I’m not exaggerating, everything front and center was occult stuff: Books, tarot cards, crystals, etc. It’d been a while since I’d been in a Barnes and Nobles and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I stumbled into a witchcraft store.
What is all this about? It’s about a rejection of the authority of God and a worship of one’s own authority. It’s just astonishing how hard-headed we are as humans. The Bible literally opens with the story of two people falling from grace because they thought they could be their own gods and it didn’t go well.
The witchcraft stuff is all about being god-like. Satanism isn’t so much about worshipping Satan as it is worshipping the self, which is what Satan does.
The authority of Christ is the only thing that can cast out unclean spirits that bind us and that should tell us something, Catholic Pilgrims.
We are nothing without Him and He is the ultimate Authority. Guard your souls well.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
