Jesus comes to drive out which Demons!

IV Sunday in Ordinary Time B Mark 1:21-28 Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus 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 believe in Spirits, both good and bad. I believe in the Devil and in Angels but … I don’t really believe in the possessions like you see in movies like the exorcist. Movies where little girls’ heads spin around, and they vomit violently on the priest. In my 35 years of being a priest any numbers of times people have come and told me that they are possessed, or their child is, or their house is. I always agree to bless the person, or the house and I encourage the people do go to the sacraments, to receive communion and confession. The truth is, I believe in spirits good and bad, but most of the time I think that it is just a bad dream, or they got frightened by a scary movie. In Today’s Gospel, we have the very first miracle of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel and it is about an exorcism, and it is very much like the ones that we see in the movies. The unclean spirit cries out, the man is thrown into convulsions. And everyone is amazed at the power of Jesus because he speaks with an authority. Like I said, I’ve blessed many people and places in 35 years, but I don’t know if I have ever driven out an evil spirit. It just doesn’t seem all that likely. People get sick, they have bad dreams, they get scared or worried about stuff, but driving out demons… I just don’t know. So, what does it mean for me, what does it mean for us, this “Authority of Jesus,” his power over demons? Is it just a nice story that is interesting to hear? As I said this is the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel, last week we heard the core of Jesus’ message: repent and believe in the Gospel. What Jesus is making clear from the outset is that his announcement of the Kingdom is to rescue God’s people. It isn’t about driving demons out of a few people who might have psychological problems. It is about driving out all demons, about freeing us from anything that keeps us from turning to him 100%! So, when I realize that Jesus came to drive out demons, it is good that I don’t think about people who might be a little crazy, it is good for me to think of my own demons. Because Jesus didn’t come just to drive demons out of other people, but he has come to drive them out of me as well. The Gospel says that Jesus had authority over the unclean spirits. Authority is a two-way street. It is not just a police man exercising power over other people, it is other people accepting that someone has authority over them. We need to accept that Jesus not only has authority over unclean spirits, but we need to accept that Jesus has authority over us as well. We need to accept and see the demons that are inside of ourselves. Demons like a lack of patience; getting angry too easily, not being willing to forgive others. These things can obviously be called sins, but I think it is more than just that. It is a realization that there are things about my life that I can’t change. Things that I don’t have power over. But Jesus he does have the power. Jesus can save me from all those things about myself that I don’t like or that I need to change. I guess what I am trying to say is that when we realize the great power of Jesus, we should see how the power of Jesus isn’t over others, but it is over us as well. Let us be amazed not about what Jesus does for them but be amazed what Jesus can do for us. Jesus speaks with authority, since we are his followers, let us allow him to drive out those unclean spirits found inside of ourselves.