Be Quiet!

Luke 4:31-37

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

Commentary:
Fr. Jordi Rivero

-It is the holy day of sabbath and Jesus is in the synagogue teaching. The people go there to listen but Him, but the devil also goes there. He does not rest. He tempts us even when we are before the Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!

-What is the devil's temptation? To keep us from listening to Jesus, to keep us distracted with other things. To have our thoughts and speech center on ourselves and not in God.  We think our thoughts and talk is normal. We don't understand how the devil is keeping us away from Jesus even when we are close to Him, nor do we see how we offend Him.
 
-Do not think that the possessed man is so different from the rest of us. The possessed show us, like in a caricature, the work of the devil in all of us sinners. Martha too was tempted not to listen to Jesus when He visited her home in Bethany. She was tempted with busyness. The devil does not want to manifest himself openly. That blows his cover. He would rather work hidden as he does in most of us. But he cannot resist the power of the Word. That is when he exposes himself as we see in the Gospel. I have seen demonic manifestations when the Word is proclaimed with power. It happens also today.

-Notice the cynicism: "Ha! What do you want with us". Even in front of Jesus, even when he knows that he cannot stand up to Him, the devil acts with arrogance as if he was in control.
-Notice that the demon knows very well who Jesus is. Better than we do! He also recognizes all the holy ones.

-Now those present most likely did not realize at first that a demon was speaking through the man. Jesus was often rebuked and attacked as He is today and we don't realize that demons are behind all that. Think of the arrogance and the disdain towards religion so common today.

-The devil is seeking to influence our thoughts and speech. Modern media is being by the devil as a powerful tool of deception. We are influenced by the mindset of the world. The same demons are also at work against us personally. Gossip, imprudence, pride, lies, drawing attention to ourselves, judging...  How often does the devil succeeds with us!  How often do we grieve Jesus. We don allow Him to speak. We deny Him the use of our mind and tongue. We distract others from the truth. Jesus must say to us: "Be quiet!".  He does so because He wants to deliver us from the demons that torment us. He loves us so much! Only in silence can we begin to listen to Him. So let us repent, go to confession and consecrate out thoughts and speech to Him.

God speaks in silence

Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 10, 2011.  Source: osservatoreromano.va

Note: The night before (August 9) the teaching at our comm. cenacle was on "silence".   Note that the Holy Father is not talking only about the silence of the monks.  He speaks at the end of the "new communities" and of the need of have to find silence.  Emphasis added.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

In every age, men and women who have consecrated their lives to God in prayer – like monks and nuns – have established their communities in particularly beautiful places: in the countryside, on hilltops, in valleys, on the shores of lakes or the sea, or even on little islands. These places unite two elements which are very important for contemplative life: the beauty of creation, which recalls that of the Creator, and silence, which is guaranteed by living far from cities and the great means of communication.  Silence is the environmental condition that most favors contemplation, listening to God and meditation. The very fact of experiencing silence and allowing ourselves to be "filled," so to speak, with silence, disposes us to prayer. The great prophet, Elijah, on Mount Horeb – that is, Sinai – experienced strong winds, then an earthquake, and finally flashes of fire, but he did not recognize the voice of God in them; instead, he recognized it in a light breeze (cfr. 1 Rev 19:11-13). God speaks in silence, but we need to know how to listen. This is why monasteries are oases in which God speaks to humanity; and  there we find the courtyard, a symbolic place because it is a closed space, but open toward the sky.

Tomorrow, dear friends, we will celebrate the memory of St. Clare of Assisi. So I would like to recall one of these "oases" of the spirit which is particularly dear to the Franciscan family and to all Christians: the little convent of San Damiano, situated just beneath the city of Assisi, among the olive groves that slope towards Santa Maria degli Angeli. In that little church, which Francis restored after his conversion, Chiara and her first companions established their community, living off prayer and little works. They were called the "Poor Sisters," and their "form of life" was the same as the Frati Minori: "To observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rule of St. Clare, I, 2), conserving the union of reciprocal charity (cfr ivi, X, 7) and observing in particular the poverty and humility of Jesus and his Most Holy Mother (cfr, ivi, XII, 13).

The silence and beauty of the place in which the monastic community lives – simple and austere beauty – are like a reflection of the spiritual harmony which the community itself attempts to create. The world is filled with these oases of the spirit, some very ancient, particularly in Europe; others are more recent, while still others have been restored by new communities. Looking at things from a spiritual perspective, these places of the spirit are a load-bearing structure of the world! It is no accident that many people, especially in times of rest, visit these places and stop there for some days: even the soul, thanks be to God, has its needs!

Let us remember, therefore, St. Clare. But let us also remember other Saints who remind us of the importance of turning our gaze to the "things of heaven," like St. Edith Stein, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Carmelite, co-patron of Europe, whom we celebrated yesterday. And today, August 10, we cannot forget St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, with a special wish for Romans who have always venerated him as one of their patrons. Finally, let us turn our gaze to the Virgin Mary, that she may teach us to love silence and prayer.