Book of Jeremiah 7:23-28.
Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
Psalms 95(94):1-2.6-7.8-9.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11:14-23.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
Psalms 95(94):1-2.6-7.8-9.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11:14-23.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
The Spiritual Battle
If the wars of the Old Testament were not symbols of spiritual battles, I think the historical books of the Jews would never have been transmitted to Christ's disciples, he who came to teach us peace. The Apostles would never have transmitted them as readings to be carried out in the assemblies. What use would such descriptions of wars have to those who listen to Jesus telling them: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn 14,27), or for those whom Paul commands: “Do not look for revenge” (Rom 12,19) and “Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?” (1 Cor 6,7).
Paul knows well enough that we are not supposed to go to war anymore – not in a physical way – but that we are supposed to fight a great battle in our soul, against our spiritual enemies. As a commander in chief, he gives his orders to Christ's soldiers: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil” (Eph 6,11). And so that we may find in the acts of our ancestors the models of spiritual wars, he wished us to read in the assembly the story of their achievements. Since we are spiritual - we who learn that “the law is spiritual” (Rom 7,14) - we may then approach this reading by “describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms” (1 Cor 2,13). In this way we may consider, through these nations that have visibly attacked Israel, what is the power of these nations of spiritual enemies, of these “evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6,12), who start wars against the Church of the Lord, the new Israel.
Paul knows well enough that we are not supposed to go to war anymore – not in a physical way – but that we are supposed to fight a great battle in our soul, against our spiritual enemies. As a commander in chief, he gives his orders to Christ's soldiers: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil” (Eph 6,11). And so that we may find in the acts of our ancestors the models of spiritual wars, he wished us to read in the assembly the story of their achievements. Since we are spiritual - we who learn that “the law is spiritual” (Rom 7,14) - we may then approach this reading by “describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms” (1 Cor 2,13). In this way we may consider, through these nations that have visibly attacked Israel, what is the power of these nations of spiritual enemies, of these “evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6,12), who start wars against the Church of the Lord, the new Israel.
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"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68