Our Gospel story this weekend speaks of Jesus healing a possessed man. We look to Jesus to cast out evil, but we also have a responsibility to tackle it as well. A certain spirit of uncleanliness can infect our lives. Vulgar speech can become routine. Ignoring common courtesies or not practicing simple politeness can take root. Aggressive driving can become the norm. All of these little things can progress to an attitude in which others are unimportant, where they do not count. The unclean spirit that had taken hold of the man in the synagogue had no respect for him. It only cared for itself. Our respect for others shows our own attentiveness to Christ’s teaching. With faith in Jesus, a pure heart, and a nature of service, it is possible to clean out that which is unclean. St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “Those who really love God, love all good, seek all good, help forward all good, praise all good.” At times, unclean spirits gradually work their way into our lives through stress, frustration, and disappointment and we forward that negative spirit onto others through words, actions, e-mails, and disappointed behaviors. We can come clean, clean up our act, and kick out anything unclean hiding out in the recesses of our hearts by following the footsteps of Jesus.
