36 — THE STRENGTH OF JESUS

Third Sunday of Lent

Presence of God. — O Jesus, divine Strong One, I come to You to seek support for my weakness, my infirmity.

Meditation

1 — Since the first Sunday of Lent the Church has presented to us Jesus in combat against the demon, but, while then it presented Him in humble posture of defense before the temptations of the evil one, today it shows Him in posture of attack and resounding victory. Behold a poor possessed man, says the Gospel (Lk. 11, 14-28), who “was mute”; Jesus, with one act of His divine power, “cast out the demon; and when it had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were filled with astonishment.” But the enemy, almost to recover from the defeat, insinuates into the minds of the Pharisees the malignant calumny: “He casts out demons by means of the prince of demons.” Jesus is accused of being possessed and of having received from the demon the power to free the possessed man. But the Lord wants to unmask the enemy to the end and with tightly reasoned logic answers that Satan cannot give Him such power, otherwise Satan would be working at the destruction of his kingdom. No, it cannot be so: Jesus casts out demons “by the finger of God,” that is, by divine power. If Satan is strong and his satellites fight with him to reign over man, Jesus is stronger than he and will conquer him by snatching away the prey. He has come to destroy Satan’s kingdom and to establish the kingdom of God.

And if even today God permits the demon to work in seeking to drag individuals and society into evil, Jesus, dying on the cross, has already paid the price of our victory. This price is at our disposal: through Christ’s power, through Christ’s grace every Christian has power to conquer any attack of the enemy. Let us not therefore be dismayed before the triumphs of evil: they are only apparent triumphs, because Jesus is the stronger One, the only and final victor.

2 — To make Jesus’ victory over evil our own, our collaboration is evidently needed. In today’s Gospel Jesus Himself indicates several aspects of it.

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to ruin”; thus the Lord states that unity is the secret of victory.

First of all unity with Him, because without Him we can do nothing, but then also unity with neighbor. If we want to work for the triumph of good, let us collaborate - one heart and one soul - with our superiors, with our brothers. Often in the field of good much more could be done if, renouncing personal views, one knew how to work in perfect harmony. At times it may even be necessary to renounce ideas, plans, means in themselves better; but let us not be deceived: the best is always unity. Division will never lead to victory.

“He who is not with Me is against Me,” Jesus adds. Christianity admits no indifferent persons; whoever does not decisively take Christ’s side, whoever does not work with Him for the spread of His kingdom, by this very fact opposes Him, opposes good, is enemy of Christ and promoter of evil.

To omit the good one could and should do is already to do evil, is to consent to the development of evil.

The first condition of victory over evil is active collaboration in Christ’s work, in union with brothers. The second is vigilance. Jesus warns that the enemy of good lies in wait and that, even after leaving a soul, he is ready to return stronger than before “with seven other spirits worse than himself,” when he finds it empty and open to his snares. A great means to prevent evil’s entry is vigilance in prayer, to fill the heart with God, so that there is no room left for the enemy of God. And there is no more room when the soul is totally united to God by acceptance and observance of His word, His will. Indeed, to the woman who praises His Mother, Jesus replies: “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Yes, the Blessed Virgin Mary is blessed for having given life to the Redeemer, but she is much more blessed for being perfectly united to Him in observance of His word. This beatitude is not reserved to Mary, but offered to every soul of good will, and it is the greatest guarantee of victory over evil, because whoever is united to God becomes strong with His strength.

Colloquy

“My eyes are ever toward You, O God, because You can free my feet from the snare of evil. Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor. Guard my soul and save me; let me not be ashamed that I have had recourse to You” (Ps. 24, 15-20).

“O eternal Trinity, O high and eternal Trinity, You gave us the sweet and loving Word. O sweet and loving Word, Son of God, just as our nature is weak and prone to all evil, so Your nature is strong and fit for all good, because You received it from Your eternal and omnipotent Father. Therefore You, sweet Word, strengthened our weak nature by uniting Yourself to it; through this union our nature is strengthened, because by virtue of Your Blood our weakness is taken away. And we are also strengthened by Your doctrine, because the man who truly follows it, clothing himself in it perfectly, becomes so strong and fit for good that he almost loses the rebellion of the flesh against the spirit and can overcome every evil. Therefore You, eternal Word, took away the weakness of our nature with the strength of the divine nature which You received from the Father; and this strength You gave to us through Your Blood and Your doctrine.

“O sweet Blood, You strengthen the soul, You enlighten it, in You it becomes angelic. You overshadow it so with the fire of Your charity that it wholly forgets itself and can see nothing outside You.

“O doctrine of truth, You give such strength to the soul clothed in fortitude that it never fails, neither in adversities nor in pains or temptations, but in every battle it carries off a strong victory. Wretched me, who have not followed You, true doctrine, and therefore am so weak that in every least tribulation I fail” (St. Catherine of Siena).