The Gospel passage we heard at Mass on Sunday, July 11, begins, “Jesus summoned the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.” My message today deals with our perception of authority and the truth that should encompass our ideas regarding the exercise of Godly authority.
The words “power” and “control” are often used interchangeably with the expression “authority.” Jesus gave the apostles power and control over unclean spirits and the power and authority to heal people just as Jesus Himself healed others. In Matthew’s Gospel, before Jesus ascends into heaven, His parting words are, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
The question I have for all of us today is: Are we teaching the world what Jesus has commanded us? Or have we surrendered and abandoned our power, our control, our teaching authority, and are instead allowing something other than the design of God to exert its control over us?
Paul Harvey, a famed national radio commentator and columnist, remarked in a broadcast in 1965 (and later featured in a variety of media over the course of his long career) an essay he titled “If I Were the Devil”: “If I were the devil … if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. So, I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first – I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’
“To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘old-fashioned.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington. …’
“And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies. … I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.
“If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed.
And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions – just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.
“Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography – soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.
“If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have, and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what do you bet that I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes of hard work, in patriotism, and in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing on what he’s doing.”
My final thoughts come from the Psalms, which were composed approximately 2,500 to 2,900 years ago. Here is a small portion of Psalm 80 as God speaks to His people:
“Listen, my people, to my warning – O Israel, if only you would listen / But my people did not listen to my voice – and Israel would not obey / So I left them in their stubbornness of heart – to follow their own designs.”
It appears we have been following our own designs for a long, long time. At what point do we say enough is enough? God has given us His authority, through Jesus Christ, to lovingly heal and minister to this world of ours. We have been commanded by Christ Himself, to first observe, and then to live, and finally to teach the truth that God has shown us. We are to expel the demons of hatred and not let them control and consume us.
We are called to a personal conversion and repentance, and then to lovingly bring others to the truth of that very Gospel message. We are commissioned to drive out every demon – each and every one of the negative forces in and of the world that continue to make a mockery of the 10 Commandments and the two Great Commandments that Jesus gave us.
If we hold the authority of God in Jesus Christ to be true – and Jesus has passed that power and control on to His disciples – then a response from you and a response from me is required. It is time we collectively figure out what our response should be.
Deacon Mike Zboyovski serves at St. Eugene Church in Asheville. This commentary is adapted from a homily he delivered at Masses the weekend of July 10-11.