In this brief moment of ordinary time, the Gospels focus on Jesus as the healer; the one who has power over evil. Healing for Jesus is deeper than the physical, it touches the soul. He invites us to face, with him, what is unclean and be rid of it.

What gets into people? Good people get addicted to alcohol, drugs, all kinds of inappropriate, often destructive behavior and we ask the question, "What got into them? Surely they knew better! Why did they let this happen?

Christ has power to heal regardless what our need may be.

To the man in the synagogue with the unclean spirit, Jesus said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" Shut up! Get out of him! Be quiet, shut up about what? "I know who you are — the holy One of God!" Have you ever been so bold, so audacious to God?

Jesus seems to be saying, "Let me come in. Let my holiness be your strength to face whatever comes, to say no to sin, to say no to the demons which may come."

Did you notice that the man with the unclean spirit was not brought to Jesus. He was there, in the synagogue, as Jesus was teaching. He reacted to the holiness of Jesus.

The designation 'unclean' is the opposite of holy. The extreme opposite of holy is demonic, the demons which seem to possess.

It is the authority of Jesus, the authoritative manner with which he deals with the unclean spirit, that most impresses the crowd.

When the Church speaks about the devil, the fallen angel, we are reminded that the devil uses its power for evil. We must fight against the human and the superhuman forces of evil in their origin and inspiration: the awful success of the ideologies of death which have spread all over the earth. The Church teaches that the evil of sin is done by a free will. Only God can penetrate the depth of a person's heart. The devil does not have the power to enter your heart.

The devil acts only on the exterior, on the imagination and on the feelings. The devil acts through temptation and deceit; the devil is a liar. He can deceive you; induce you to error and try to lead you into sin. The devil is much more dangerous a tempter than anything else.

It is no accident that we ask in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."

"Deliver us Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever."