“But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Lk 4:43).

Jesus himself present, fully divine and fully human, is the foretaste of heaven in our midst then, as presented in our Gospel reading, and today at work in us his Church. His work of preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons, shows the divinve flow of the Father’s Love being infused into our fallen human condition. Jesus came to restore that which had been lost and once he begins his mission he is ever on the go.

Through our Baptism we have been conformed to and indellibly marked by Christ, and for Christ. We are nourished by his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and were empowered through the laying on of hands by the bishop at our Confirmation. We have been divinized, made God through our pariticpation in the life of Jesus the Christ. We are to preach and teach the same Gospel, we are to be his healing presence, we are to make Jesus present to those in our midst, and yes we too are called to cast out all demons, negativity, fear and darkness. The weakest Christian is more powerful that Satan himself, for we are aligned and empowered by Jesus when we invoke his holy name.

Jesus did not travel very far during his three and a half year public ministry, yet his Word has reached all corners of the world. That is because of those who have encountered him, said yes to his invitation, and have been about building a relationship with him, and embracing the gift of the vocation they have been called to. We are called to the same mission of evangelization. Jesus invites us today to “proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.” Let us begin, let us be on our way!

Let us hold each other up in prayer for those in the path of Irma and those evacuating. “Peace be still!”

Link to today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/4:38