The Gospel for Wednesday of the 25th week in ordinary time is taken from St. Luke 9, 6 Jesus summoned the 12 and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them. And they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

The important thing in this passage to me is the description of the kingdom of God. It is a power given to us, and demons are those intentions within us that can be so destructive and harmful to others. And so often those negative images that we carry within ourselves affects our health as well. So this idea that we live in a kingdom of God where there is love and understanding and compassion, we know that we’re going to be living in a place where there is less evil and more health, the Kingdom of God. Please ponder these thoughts and I will close with a prayer. Foreign Closing Prayer Father, you’ve given us a free will.

We can choose an attitude, a disposition that is destructive to ourselves and others. So we long for your guidance. We long for your wisdom, so that our choices will always bring us into the kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.