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Luke 11: 14-23

In the gospel today Jesus heals a man who is believed to be possessed by a mute demon. He expels the evil spirit and the man regains his power of speech. The crowds around him are amazed and begin to wonder where His power comes from. Some look for more proof that he get his power from God. Others, however, attribute his healing power from the prince of demons. They insist on signs to prove that Jesus is from God. What he has done is not enough for them.

Jesus, however, knows what is in their hearts. He gives two proofs against their false accusations. First, evil cannot go against itself, otherwise Satan's reign would not survive. Second, their exorcists never claim to expel demons by the power of the demons themselves. Therefore, the exorcists themselves would be their judges.

Even with what they saw and what they heard from Jesus - the Pharisees and the teachers of the law never believed in Him. They were so blinded with their own egoism and prejudice that they were not able to accept Jesus as the One sent by God to be the Messiah. Because of their pride and hypocrisy, Jesus was angry with them.

In one way or the other, at times we behave much like the people in the gospel today, with our own pride and prejudices. Everyday we encounter Jesus in the Sacrament of the mass, but how many of us are able to recognize Him and truly believe in Him as our Lord and Savior? And if we believe in Jesus, do we also accept His teachings and live by them in our lives?

As Christians we believe that Jesus is from God and he invites people to recognize that God is already acting through Him, in his words and deeds. During this season of Lent, Jesus calls each one of us to conversion, to a radical change of heart.

Jesus tells us in the gospel today: "Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me scatters." In other words, Jesus is telling us that there are no compromises in Christian life.