Evil Beliefs

Gospel: Luke 11: 15-26

We are surprised to see the reaction of the crowd to an objectively positive good in this story.  Jesus liberates a person from their demons, and the crowd sees this deed as driven by evil.  It is an utterly irrational conclusion, and we are shocked by it as readers.  An observer of our reaction to the story may in fact be equally surprised by our reaction of shock.  After all, do we not see this same phenomenon day in and day out in our world?

We find people deride food and humanitarian assistance to developing countries.  We see crowds of people demean and scorn refugees, migrants, immigrants, and foreigners of all types.  We encounter people lusting for an objectively unjust death penalty system and calling it pro-life.  And all of these things come from people who claim to be Christian, who claim to follow the one who healed and welcomed all people, refusing none, the one who liberated people from their demons regardless of identity. 

Jesus attempts to reason with the crowd - with us - to no avail.  People will believe what they want.  What, then, is to be done? Sometimes the only thing that can be done - to suffer this moment with dignity and grace.  That is what Jesus will ultimately do in his passion and death.  That is what the martyrs have done in every time and age.  That is what we are called to do in this moment of powerlessness in a world possessed by its demons of ideology.