he's back in town
"He pleaded hard with Jesus not to drive them away from that neighborhood." —Mark 5:10
Jesus threw the devil out of a Gerasene town (Mk 5:13). Then the devil got the townsfolk to throw Jesus out of town (Mk 5:17). Jesus, however, had the last word, for Jesus remained in town incognito, in the heart of the man who was formally the demoniac.
Jesus continues to get thrown out of town after town. Nations, schools, businesses, families, neighborhoods, and even churches often throw Jesus out. But Jesus gets back into town in the hearts of believers and wherever two or three gather in His name (Mt 18:20).
If you let Jesus live in you, if you go where He tells you and make it clear what He "in His mercy has done for you" (Mk 5:19), then Jesus is back in town, and the devil better make a run for it. When Jesus is back in town, life, love, freedom, peace, and purity are back in town.
Carry Jesus within you to wherever He's not wanted. If people won't go to church, you become a walking tabernacle and bring Jesus to them. Bring the Light into the darkness, Peace into war, Hope into despair, Truth into falsehood, and Life into the living death of sin (1 Jn 3:14). Bring Jesus back into town.
Prayer: Father, through the intercession of St. Blase, bishop and martyr, deliver us from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.
Promise: "God had made a better plan, a plan which included us."—Heb 11:40
Praise: Blase, who is invoked for healing of throats, allowed his own throat to be severed as he was beheaded for his faith in Jesus.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, August 1, 1996
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 6, 1996