Saturday October 4, 2025
Good News Reflections:
Making scripture meaningful to your daily life
by Terry Modica
“Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy.” (From today’s Gospel reading)
Good News Reflection for:
Saturday of the 26th Week of Ordinary Time
October 4, 2025
Today’s Readings:
Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29
Psalm 69:33-37
Luke 10:17-24
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100425.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-october-4-2025
Our Authority Over Evil
Why do you think Jesus could cast out demons? Because he was God? Ahhh, but he hadn’t yet defeated Satan on the Cross and in his Resurrection from death. So far, he had only defeated Satan’s temptations in the desert.
Well, then was it because the demon-possessed man was ready to change his ways and avoid doing whatever had attracted the evil spirit? There’s no indication of this. Jesus kicked demons out of unconverted people many times.
So, where did Jesus’ authority come from? Simply, the Father gave it to him. And then Jesus passed it on to his disciples (see Luke 10:19) — which includes you if you believe in him and follow him and learn from him and remain part of the community of the Church.
Authority was one of the temptations that Satan offered to Jesus (see Luke 4:5-8). Obviously, there are two kinds of authority: good and evil, or heavenly and worldly.
Good authority is based on love. Jesus didn’t cast out demons because he could. He did it because he cared. And since demons hate love (they can’t stand being around it, which is why they’re always fighting against it), when perfect love is what speaks to the demons, whooosh, they are gone.
Perfect love contains all the power of God, because HE IS love. Perfect love means caring so completely for the one who needs help that we are willing to go to the cross for them.
However, our selfishness and other sins get in the way. In our attempts to make up for this lack, we might recite special prayers, such as “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle….” as if it were a magic formula. Overcoming evil requires much more than calling upon angels or the Blessed Mother or other Saints or even Jesus himself. It requires love: our own genuine, sacrificial, selfless, prayer-inspired love.
Evil authority has no love. It seeks to make us more important than others, to control others, to oppress others. It ignores the needs and wants of others. It misses opportunities to serve others. It neglects to empower others to use their own God-given authority. It places us under the authority of Satan.
As we intercede for others, we can rely on Jesus’ authority, but we must not suppose that he’s going to do anything other than give love.
Remember this: Love is no quick fix. We’re dealing with the free will of others. It takes time to overcome evil. As we wait, God gives us multitudinous situations in which we can grow in our ability to love. Thus, Jesus passes his authority on to us.
This reflection is available for downloading and printing @ wordbytes.org/victory/authority-over-evil.
© 2025 by Terry A. Modica
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