International Catholic Conference of
Guiding
Reconciliation - Luke 11, 15-26
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[Matthew 5-20-26][
Luke 10, 38-42][
Luke 11, 5-13][
Luke 11, 15-26]
[ Luke 11, 27-28][
Luke 17, 11-19][
Luke 11, 42-46][
Luke 11, 47-54]
Luke 11, 15-26
Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed, but some of the people said « It is Beelzebul, the chief of demons, who gives him the power to drive them out. »
Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, « Any country that devides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family devided against itself falls apart. So Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong! No, it is rather by means of God's power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.
« When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house all his belongings are safe. But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him; he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.
« Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.
« When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country for a place to rest. If it can't find one, it says to itself, `I will bo back to my house'. So it goes back and finds the house clean and tidy. Then it goes out and brings seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in a worse state than he was at the beginning.
| Meditation |
by Jean Debruynne |
Jesus drives out a demon that could
not talk.
The man strats talking and the crowd is amazed.
To drive out devils is not necessarily an extraordinary thing, something
miraculous and impressive. It is not magic.
Here Jesus drives out a demon that could not talk.
You know that there are lots of
children and teenagers who do not dare to talk, and one notices often that they
keep quiet. How many children are there, who take refuge in silence? because
there is nobody who bothers or takes the time to listen to them. You need a lot
of attention an a continious presence in order to get them to speak! There are
demons to be driven out.
How many families, villages are there, who are speechles because nobody gives
them the right to speak.
The process of reconciliation starts with the capacity to listen: listen to the
other, give him back the ability to speak, that had been taken away from him. He
has the right to speak and his word is as important as that of the others. The
word of a child is as important as the word of a king.
This was Baden Powel's porfound conviction when he founded Scouting.
Jesus says: listen to the children,
let them come to us.
What is so wonderful about this, is that he who beleived that he could not speak
discovers that he can speak, that he exists. Each time you do this particular
work, you drive out the demons, the demon that locks you in, that condemns you
to solitude. The work of an educator is to drive out the demon. Educate is to
set free.
Some of the people who surrounded
Jesus started then to murmur and to gossip. They said that if he drives out
demons it is because he himself is a friend of demons, but if he drives them
out, the demon is lost, because he fights against himself. He defeats himself.
Evil is always in agreement with himself. Those who fight wars do always agree
with wars. Those who want to kill always agree to kill. But those who want peace,
are they able to wish for peace?
But if it is true that demons, evil will be ruined through division, this is
also true for peace!
If all those who want peace don't build it together, than nothing will be
achieved, just new ruins, new deserts.
And Jesus says, it is by the means of God's power that I drive out demons, and
this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you. You can see that
Jesus doesn't reason as we do. One would have said: if I am able to drive out
demons this is the proof that I am the strongest!
Jesus, son of God, who is God himself doesn't boast of his power, but
acknowleges the power of his Father; he says that peace is a gift, that
reconciliation is a gift of God.
We are not the masters of the world. I am not the master of peace. I am not the one who knows everything. I am the servant of peace. Peace is one of the names of God. It means that the tendernes of God is with us. He came to tell us about his love.
Reconciliations means that one sees further than oneself, that one goes beyond one's universe in order to receive, to discover. This doesn't mean that I am the strongest. This means that God loves us.
When a strong man with his weapons protects his castle, he is secure, but when a stronger man than he apprears, he can take all his weapons from him and he looses all his goods.
Here we must ask ourselves, how does
one become the strongest? Even if I have all the weapons, there might be others
that will have more than I do. Therefore, in what can I trust? Particularly, if
you look into your soul, you will clearly see that you are at the same time your
friend and your enemy, the one who wants day and the one who wants night . The
one who asks for sunshine and rain.
Each of us is in conflict with ourselves.
Often one tends to think that the best way to win, is to keep up appearances,
when inside there is pleny of noise. I cannot start a war against myself. I
cannot force silence upon myself. I must live all my life with myself without
condemning myself all the time, despising myself, humiliating myself. Each time
we humiliate ourselfs, it is God whom we humiliate. God made me, created me,
gave me life.
To respect oneself is to respect God. To accept oneself as one is, is to give
God our consentment. If I fight against myself, the same thing will happen that
happened to that man of Luke's. I will always have the impression that I'll
never find a way out.
When one is with one who is stronger, it is not worth taking risks. It is better
to negotiate. I `ll have to accept that I'll loose a little. I cannot rule,
direct everything. I am with the others, and have to share.
It is not in arms that I have to place my trust. God is not in War.
God is in peace because he is love.
This Gospel tells a final story, the story of a man inhabited by an evil spirit.
On his arrival to the house, he finds it clean and tidy. This means that in
order to find its place, war needs chaos and disorder.
To saw conflict is to saw division. The evil spirit brings seven other spritits
even worse than himself, they create disorder and in the end that person is in a
worse state than he was at the beginning.
The contrary of disorder, of chaos, is dialogue, it is never to loose sight of
possible links, never throw someone out. It is never a solution to tell a guide,
you, you are worthless, you are not good enough, go away!
Guiding is made for those who don't know, who don't manage. Tell this to your
guides: there can only be peace if the poor are admitted amongst us.
For the general appearance, for the sake of appearances, it is better if guides
come from rich families, but for the Gospel, there is no peace if the poor are
not with us. It is the poor, and not those who are the strongest, those who
crush the world, that will bring us peace.
Reconcilitation, is first of all to be reconciled with the poor, and perhaps the first in the ranks of the poor is myself. And perhaps I will begin to reconcile myself with myself. Reconciliation is always the road leading to the poor.
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