Theme: Drive Out Unclean Spirits in Us
Modern people seldom believe in miracles and exorcism. They prefer believing in physical sciences. If you believe in anything spiritual, you are superstitious.
The Bible tells us that Satan exists and it is a liar. Its best trick is to make people think that it does not exist. Unfortunately, Satan has been very successful and many people think that when most of the things we see can be explained with science, there is no place for God and for Satan. The second best thing Satan does is to gain possession of our souls. We were created in God's image. We are precious in the eyes of God. Now Satan needs ammunition to fight against God. What better ammunition there are than human souls! Therefore, Satan and its demons would do whatever they could to possess human beings in order to build up an arsenal to war against God.
What happen when a person is possessed by demons?
When human beings make advancements in science and technology, Satan also evolves with us. Nowadays, Satan has many more inroads to gain possession of our souls. In ancient times, a person might find satisfaction and excitement in money, in honour, in glory and in sex. Nowadays, there are many more ways to make ourselves happy and be obsessed! We have many kinds of entertainment drugs. We can easily flip through pornographic webpages on our mobile phones and get connected with strangers through dating apps etc.
What we eat makes us what we are. This is also true in a psychological and spiritual way. What we read makes us what we are. When we are unable to put our mobile phones away, when we feel restless without our mobile phones around, we are addicted. We are semi-possessed. Other than mobile phones, we can be addicted to other things such as drug abuses, gambling, shopping, sex and even work! There are workaholics who simply collapse in their work place! Isn't it tragic?
Unfortunately, God does not call us in an attractive manner. He speaks in "a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12). On the other hand, there are far too many distractive obstacles which prevent us from responding to God's call. In a way, we have lost control over ourselves. We are possessed by our work, by maintaining relationship through sex, filling up our inner emptiness with shopping, looking for excitement through gambling and drug abuses etc. We are unable to shake off those chains with our own efforts. Who can deliver us from all these evils? The gospel reading today gives us the hope of deliverance. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is God himself. When the unclean spirit met Jesus Christ, instead of running away, it presented itself before Jesus. Why? It is because Jesus was its source of existence. It knew that there was no escape because cutting itself away from Jesus meant annihilation. Even demons know that they have to return to the Lord of life. Similarly, we need to return to Jesus, our source of life.
The gospel does not say what happened to the possessed person after exorcism. In another occasion, the possessed person wanted to follow Jesus. Probably he wanted to ensure his own safety. He wanted Jesus to protect him for the rest of his life. But Jesus told him to go home to tell his friends how much good God had done him. (Mark 5:19) Similarly, be brave to answer God's call. He heals us and He wants other people to receive His blessings through us.
However, we are human beings. We need to make sense of the world we are living in. Otherwise, we feel uncomfortable. The world we live in seems to be more than what we can see, hear, feel and touch through our senses. We are rational beings. We feel restless if we cannot find meanings and purposes in our life. Now, there simply are too many unfair things going on in the society. Our society seems to be sick in many ways! We don't feel comfortable with such things because we believe in fairness. We believe in a righteous God who will finally bring justice. When we believe in God, we also believe in an invisible, spiritual world where God, angels, devils and other spiritual beings reside.
Simply put, when a person can no longer take control over himself for an extended period of time, when he does harmful things to himself and to others and finally when some supernatural phenomena happen around him, that person is being possessed. Truly, a mental patient cannot take control over himself for an extended period of time. He harms himself and even others. But he is not necessarily a possessed person unless some supernatural phenomena happened around him. Therefore, the Church must ascertain whether a person suffers mental illness or possession before sending in an exorcist to drive the demon away. In fact, a demon cannot possess any human being unless that human person opens himself up to invite possession. How? Curiosity can be a rather harmful tendency that invites possession. Secondly, when the moral integrity of a person is breaking down because of substance abuses and continual unrepentant sinning, that person will also easily become a target of possession.
Thus, it is imperative for us to clean ourselves of our own addictions. Daily examination is an essential habit. Be humble to acknowledge our weaknesses. Reflect on how intimate our relationship with Jesus is. Like the possessed man in the gospel, present ourselves before Christ to acknowledge his Lordship. Say to Jesus, "Have mercy on me, Lord!"
God bless!
2015 Reflection
常年期第四主日（乙年）
主題：把內在的邪魔驅逐
很少現代人相信神蹟和驅魔，他們寧可相信科學。倘若你相信任何屬靈的事物，你便是個迷信的人。
聖經告訴我們撒殫是真實存在的，而且牠是一個撒謊者。牠最狡猾的奸計是令人以為牠並不存在。不幸，撒殫很成功。很多人認為當科學能解釋一切可見的事物時，我們不再需要天主和撒殫。撒殫另一項專長是令人類出賣自己的靈魂。我們是按天主肖像所創造的。在天主眼中，我們是珍貴的。撒殫需要軍火與天主作戰。有甚麼兵器比人類的靈魂更有效對付天主呢？因此，撒殫和牠的使者會不惜一切俘虜人類的靈魂，建立牠的軍火庫，與天主作戰。
附魔的人會怎麼樣？
當人類的科技日新月異時，撒殫亦隨著進化。今天，撒殫有更多的途徑俘虜我們的靈魂。在古時，一個人可以從金錢，榮譽，性愛尋求滿足和興奮；今天，我們有更多事物令自己快樂著迷。我們有不同類型的軟性毒品，我們在手機上很容易瀏覽到色情網頁，有很多交友程式接觸到陌生人等。
西諺有云：「我們吃甚麼，就成為甚麼。」同理，「我們瀏覽甚麼，就變成甚麼。」當我們不能放下手機，當手上沒有智能電話便坐立不安時，我們已經上了癮，我們已陷入「半附魔」。除了手機外，我們也會沾染其他的癮，例如濫藥、賭博、購物，性甚到工作！君不見有人在工作間猝死嗎？多麼可悲！
可惜，天主並不用吸引的方式來召喚我們，祂以「輕微細弱的風聲」對我們說話。（列上19:12）另一方面，四周有實在太多的事物障礙我們聆聽天主的召喚。我們已經迷失了。我們被工作所佔據，以性來維系關係，以購物來填滿空虛的心靈，以賭博和濫藥來尋求刺激等。我們不能自拔，誰可救我們脫免這些凶惡呢？今天的福音帶給我們喜訊。耶穌基督是天主子，是天主本身。當邪魔遇見耶穌基督時，牠沒有逃跑，反而來到耶穌跟前。何解會這樣？因為耶穌是牠存在的根源。牠知道無路可逃，因為離開耶穌，牠祗會灰飛煙滅。連邪魔也懂得返回生命的主宰，我們怎不轉向耶穌，我們的生命之源呢？
福音沒有告訴我們驅魔後，那附魔者去了哪。在另一個驅魔事件中，附魔者事後想跟隨耶穌。可能他為了自身的安全，想得到耶穌終身的保護。但耶穌吩咐他「回家，到你的親那裡，給他們傳述上主為你作了何等大事，怎樣憐憫了你。」（谷5:19）同樣，勇敢地回應天主的召喚。祂要治癒我們並希望透過我們，把恩寵帶給其他人。
可是，我們是人，我們希望明白我們處身的世界，否則，我們會感到不安。這個世界好像不祗是五官所察覺到的世界。我們是有理性的。倘若我們找不到生命的意義和目的，我們便寢食難安。我們生活的社會裡，有太多不公平的事。在很多方面，我們的社會病了！我們覺得不妥，因為我們相信公義，我們相信一位正義的天主最後會帶來公義。當我們相信有天主的時候，我們便會相信靈界的存在，天主，天使，魔鬼和所有靈體，都在那裡活動。
簡單地說，當一個人在相當長的一段時間內，不能自我控制，傷害自己，傷害身邊的人，最後甚至有超自然的現象發生時，這個人就附魔了。誠言，精神病人一樣不能自我控制，而且傷害自己，傷害身邊的人。他不一定附了魔，除非發生了超自然的現象。因此，教會必先確定患者是精神病抑或是附魔，纔派遣驅魔人把邪魔趕走。但邪魔不能隨便令人著魔，除非是人主動「邀請」牠。怎樣「邀請」呢？好奇是一個相當危險的傾向，令人容易著魔。其次，當一個人因為濫藥或屢屢犯罪而不願悔改而導致道德崩潰時，這人便很容易成為附魔的對象。
因此，我們必須戒除我們的癮。每天反省是重要的習慣。謙虛自己，在主前承認自己的軟弱。反省我們與耶穌的關係有多少親密。好像那附魔的人一樣，臣服在耶穌基督前，對祂說：「主！憐憫我吧！」
天主保祐！
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