Getting Rid of Demons

Gospel: Mark 1: 21-28

Today's Gospel reading from Mark has Jesus's first miracle as the expulsion of a demon from the life of a person.  This action represents the fundamental mission of Jesus in the world - to rid us from demons and evils in our life.  It is instructive to note how often Jesus does expel demons in the Gospel, and that this forms part of the mission Jesus gives to his disciples in sending them out into the world.

We often think of demons exclusively as supernatural beings who possess humans, and this is one aspect of the existence of demons.  But more often than not demons are our own creation: the evils we commit as individuals and as groups.  Demons did not invent genocide, slavery, human trafficking, the degradation and exploitation of the poor, or any other evil. We human beings created these things and maintain their existence in the world.  

If we wish to expel demons from the world, our first task is to repent of the evil for which we are responsible, end these unjust systems we have created in our world.  Before tackling the invisible demons not of our making, let us first overcome the ones of our own creation and design.  That is the task Jesus provides to us in sending us out to expel demons from our world.