Unpowered

Who is doing the work of the apostles today?

Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, You are the Son of God! But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. - Mark 3:11-15

In Mark's Gospel, just before Jesus calls the twelve from his followers, he casts out unclean spirits and orders them to keep his identity silent.

It is clear he has authority over them.

He chose the twelve to do the same as he, to cast out the spirits of those who are troubled by them, the sick and tormented, people with diseases and illness.

So, who is doing this work today?  Who has this authority today?  Is it the Bishops who have been given the authority, and have they given it to the priests?

Somewhere along the line, I think we have forgotten what we were called to do and be in Christ.  Not all of us, perhaps, since we have all heard stories of healing ministries, where people come to Church and the congregation lays hands on them.

But what about the rest of us?

Shouldn't we be putting greater emphasis on using this power to cast out the demons people carry around with them?

Maybe we don't think ourselves worthy of this awesome power.  Or perhaps we feel only a few can wield it.

What if we're wrong about that?  What if the Holy Spirit who dwells within us has given it to us, and all we have to do is discover it?

Wouldn't that be amazing?

Ah, but we are too wise to fall victim to such talk, aren't we?  It sounds like Bible thumping, holy roller stuff, stuff we are too educated to believe in.

We have chosen, then, to be unpowered.  We choose to ignore the awesome gift we have been given, and instead, we do little, if anything, to help one another, and ourselves when we are troubled by demons.

There is no such thing?

Maybe not, but wouldn't it be a kick in the head to find out at the end of this life that, like Dorthy in The Wizard of Oz, we had the power all along?

More to come...