Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary.
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him. Lk 13:10-17
Today, Jesus teaches us more about our opponent, the Devil, who will do anything to stop us from entering into the Kingdom of God. Yesterday, we learned that humility will defeat the devil. Today, we learn that Jesus can set us free from the grasp of the devil. We can interpret it as being set free through the ministry of healing or the sacrament of reconciliation that Jesus will set up later through His Apostles. The devil is the great deceiver. The Pharisees believed in the law so much they totally missed the opportunity to be compassionate towards the people they were called to serve. Jesus embarrasses them today proving that a woman crippled by a spirit is more important than untying or unbinding a work animal which was legal on the Sabbath. I have been deceived very easily by the devil. Early on in my life I saw the commandments as God taking away my fun living in a restrictive strait jacket. As I continued to pray and listen to Him, receiving grace in the sacraments, and reflecting on the Scriptures, I have learned that the devil is deceiving me. I am very competitive and as Peter Kreeft says, “There is only one game in town.” (Holiness vs. deception or God vs Devil) Any time you think God is trying to take away your fun or restrict you from being happy, think again, the great deceiver is at work. God’s desire for you to be holy and be with Him in heaven is greater than yours. You are His creation, His handiwork. He loves you more than you love yourself and He wants you to have a relationship with Him. Are you ready to fight and defeat Satan? It starts with a daily battle in your mind!
Today’s challenge: Defeat Satan with Mary, pray your rosary every day! God brings joy, Satan brings misery. You have the power to choose, choose wisely.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
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