The world is truly turned upside down here in Massachusetts. The force behind this is clear. The devil is skilled at sowing moral confusion. Fr. Bob Carr preached on this last Sunday at his parish in Somerville: "The Manifestation of the Demonic in Massachusetts." (See the whole homily online at Catholic.org.)
Excerpts from Fr. Carr's homily on Jesus's temptation in the desert [see Mark 1:9-13; Matthew 4:1-11]:
[O]ne of the signs of the Demonic is moral ambiguity. The light of reason turns dark and there is a loss of a sense of right and wrong. I also pointed out that this reality describes well the current state of affairs in Massachusetts.
The Devil takes reason and twists it into confusion. If you have no wisdom to guide your reason, you will end up seriously confused. I was talking to a parishioner in the Archdiocese and she said to me, Look around you. "Male is female and female is male a complete distortion of creation." Right is wrong and wrong is right. Black is white and white is black. Do not think for one minute you are not dealing with manifestations of the Demonic.
The Spirit leads Jesus to the Devil for his temptation. The Devil’s evil intentions further enable Jesus to define for himself his own mission and ministry. We define ourselves by our choices and Jesus continually chooses against the Devil and for the Father. He gives us the example to do the same.
Now the question is why? Jesus begins his ministry after his time in the desert. He begins to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. The minute he spoke his first word you can imagine a huge digital clock beginning to countdown from 40 years to 0. The nation of Israel to whom he is speaking has only forty years of existence left and nobody knows but Our Lord. It is like they are all on the Titanic and it has just left port. Jesus is warning people to know where their life preservers are. He does not say why. However, He alone knows about the forthcoming iceberg and sinking.
Jesus, however, is not preaching to scare people. He is preaching to begin his role of separating the wheat from the tare. He is dividing the faithful from those just going through the motions. He is dividing the true disciple from the one giving lip service.
We too are beginning to encounter clear signs of the demonic. Here in Somerville, how many Catholic schools are closed. One parish and three schools at last count. Yet, we just opened up here a Planned Parenthood Office. If you have read the Somerville newspapers then you saw the picture of the politicians including graduates of Catholic schools attending a ribbon cutting ceremony for a place that roots itself in destroying human life.
That which imparts God’s wisdom is closing and that which imparts the Devil’s destruction is opening. Good is Bad and Bad is Good. True is false and false is true. Man is woman and woman is man. The Devil is alive and living in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Yet, Jesus’ encounter with the Devil was there to strengthen his resolve and his mission. So it is with us. You are now at a time in which you have to make a choice everyday. Are you going to go along to get along or are you going to choose to know, comprehend and believe the wisdom of God.
Are you going to betray your faith, like graduates of a Catholic school smiling at a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of an pro-abortion office or are you going to choose Christ regardless of the circumstances.
