After calling Peter and his brother Andrew, John and his brother James, to follow him as his disciples, Jesus Christ enters a synagogue – which for the Jews was their church – in order to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to teach and heal. The assembly is astonished at his teaching because he teaches with authority, and not like their scribes.
Jesus teaches with authority because he is the Author of every human life, of true love and of all wisdom. With God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son of God created the universe, since he is the Eternal Word through whom God the Father called the universe into existence. God creates immediately and directly every human soul at the moment of conception, which gives that little human person with its own unique DNA, the power to grow.
But some people do not believe in God. They say that since they cannot see God, they do not believe. But ask them if they believe in human cells that make up the body. Most will say that they believe in cells. Ask them if they can see a cell with their eyes only.
If they are honest, they will say one can only see cells through a microscope. Ask them if they believe the scientists Francis Crick and James Watson who say that DNA is constituted with over a billion parts in order to pass on in-formation that allows for life to be sustained. They might say, “Yes, but how does this prove that God exists?”
Tell them that scientists have discovered all this material information found in a cell, but they do not know how it has come to be alive. Life is a gift from a pure Spirit, and that unseen Spirit is God. For one human cell to be alive, all those billion parts must be in working order and be enlivened by a soul that keeps the human being alive. When that soul leaves the body, the person dies, but the DNA remains.
Francis Crick, who made the discovery of DNA in 1953 with James Watson, studied it for decades and wrote, “an honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.”
Many people believe in scientists, although they have never studied all the books they have written. They believe them in natural faith, that is, they choose to place their trust in them.
But many scientists only look to the physical world and are amazed by the incredible complexity. Many of them forget to look, or maybe choose to deny or not to look at the spiritual world. Other more reasonable scientists see the irreducible complexity of a single human cell and readily conclude that there must be an All-Powerful Creator who is an All Knowing, All Loving Personal God who gives human life; for there must be an origin and sustaining power for human life. And since the human soul can transcend time and read about past discoveries without being there to witness those discoveries, one can reasonably conclude that the soul goes on forever. Thus, there must be an infinite God who gives every human soul an intellect to know God, and a free will to choose to follow God, or they choose not to follow him forever – which is why hell exists for them and the
fallen angels, demons.
When some people hear that Jesus Christ called his disciples to form a living Catholic Church centered on him who gave his life for those Church members and continues to give his life through the Holy Mass and the Eucharist, they choose not to believe. Some might even read Church history and see how thousands of Catholic saints and martyrs have loved everyone, even forgiving their enemies while being persecuted and martyred, and they still may choose not to believe.
When non-believers hear that God has revealed to us in the Bible that some angels have fallen away from God and have become demons to tempt us to sin against God and oth-ers, they say it sounds naïve. And yet, many of these same people embrace communism and socialism that historically has massacred over 30 million people in the last century, and still enslaves millions today such as in Russia, but some still choose to close their ears to these tragic historical facts.
However, it is no surprise to true believers of Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church that communist Russia continues to wage war on smaller countries until they them-selves are in power, since abortion was first legalized in communist Russian in the year 1920 to break down the family and Jesus Christ’s teaching on the sanctity of human life. Unfortunately, in our country only 14 states have bans on abortion when it should be all 50 states.
Yet, many people are unsure of where they stand on abortion and salvation but are open minded and may believe us when we live and proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ is the Author of life and love, and that Christ teaches us to love God above all things, in order that we can love God within all people, even our enemies. This true love and love of truth will set all people free because innocent human life is the first and most fundamental right, and this fact is in-scribed on our souls and in our Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
In today’s Gospel when Jesus Christ casts out a demon from a man to set him free that he might live for true love, we realize that Jesus is not only a great teacher, but that he is Almighty God. Jesus is the New Adam who did what the first Adam failed to do - cast Satan out of the garden of life, the garden of Eden.
As Catholic Christian disciples let us praise Jesus Christ and place our divine faith fully in him – the Word of God made man – for Christ is the source, sustainer, and goal of every human life. Let us pray in the Holy Name of Jesus to increase his garden of divine faith, hope and love within our soul, within the Church and within those around us.
Jesus Christ has come to free us and the whole human family from the Devil who seeks to divide us from the true faith through sins against faith, hope and love. Without these divine virtues within our soul at death a person has chosen to turn themselves away from God which leads to everlasting pain and sorrow. By believing and sharing this spiritual truth with others we will live in the freedom of God; and people will hopefully choose to begin to see the spiritual world of God through the eyes of our Catholic Christian faith.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. McCabe