Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus came to Capernaum with his follower,

and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
"What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

I want to focus on our Gospel reading for today, Mark 1:21-28. My reflection centers on Jesus driving out the unclean spirit from the man in the synagogue. Do you think it’s any wonder that Jesus’ fame spread throughout the whole region of Galilee after his driving out the unclean spirit from a man who was inflicted? What a privilege to have been someone in the synagogue to witness this miracle from the Holy One of God.

The year of 2016 brought many opportunities for me as a Christian. All of these opportunities provided me with being able to learn and trust the power of our God. To realize his power above all things, even the unclean spirits that seem to sneak into my brain once in a while. You know, those voices that tell me that I can do this all on my own, but my heart was telling me no you can’t.

January 2016 brought me to my knees with the decision to not do things the same way I had always done before. Not to ignore the cries and pleas of those who needed to know God’s love in a very deep and caring way. January 1, 2016 was the day I looked into my heart and decided that it would be dedicated to our God, I would no longer remain quiet and let things move in the direction they had been moving.  To say this was an easy release of control is an understatement. It required prayer every single day, letting go and letting God be the pilot.
For those who believe in God’s promises, we wait patiently for his time to make straight our paths. The year of 2016 for me will be fondly remembered as one of pure light, the light that shines so bright you cannot extinguish it. The light that fills my heart, mind and soul to allow me to work toward reaching my full potential and live as my best self. How one leads themselves affects those who are around them.

So as we move forward into this new year, my prayer for all of us is that we will continue to be protected from the unclean spirits. They lurk around us every day, and they want to wreak havoc that can draw us away from our God. God does have the power to drive them out of our mind, heart and soul, we only need to call on Him.