Twenty-Seventh Friday of Ordinary Time

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

The stronger man is Jesus, who overcomes the Devil and scatters him and his minions. Jesus lays down the gauntlet to us in this gospel. He tells us plainly that we are either with him or against him. There is no middle ground. We cannot sit upon the fence and let opportunities to gather good fruits with Christ to pass us buy. If we do this, then in the end we will be empty handed. Whenever we have a great or small success in our spiritual lives we must remember it is not enough. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must instead double our guard. So let us welcome Jesus into our hearts so that he might defend us against sin and tepidity and show us how to truly know, love, and serve God and His children.

Have we let Jesus into our hearts? Do we let God help us overcome and scatter our sins? Are we with God or against Him?

O Lord, we are with you and ready to gather in your name.

Amen.