But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well-armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils
     Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.
     When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands, looking for a resting place; and finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.‘ When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits, even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

REFLECTION:
      In the first reading, the prophet Joel exhorts the priests to weep and mourn and the ministers to repent because due to the swarm of locusts invading the land, causing darkness all over, threatening their livelihood. All must return to the Lord.
      During the advent and Christmas seasons, the Son born unto us and given us was introduced so well and perfectly that He is the ”Son of God, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, on His shoulder dominion rests” (Is.9:6-7). All these tell us that Jesus‘ power is not from Beelzebul. All His power and wisdom come from the Father.
     Jesus in the last part of our gospel today speaks of the driven out evil and his return to its house (the person from whom the evil is driven out) with stronger power. The evil ”goes to fetch seven other spirits, even worse than itself…{so that} the person is worse than the first.” This brings us to that experience when we decided to follow the Lord, temptations were so strong and concrete. When we make our commitment, the evil becomes so jealous and looks for attractive strategies so as not to lose anyone. The evil does its best to snatch one who turned his back from it. One must have a determined determination of his choice for good in order not to be carried by the evil force. Every after confession we pray: ”I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace …to do penance and to amend my life.” Let us not give the evil the chance to return to us and find ourselves a fitting dwelling place of it.