March 12, 2026
Thursday of the Third Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 240
Reading
1
Thus says the
LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (8) If
today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Even now, says the
LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
for I am gracious and merciful.
Gospel
Jesus was driving
out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031226.cfm
Commentary on Jeremiah 7:23-28
The theme of
today’s readings is expressed in the final line of the Gospel:
Whoever is not
with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Luke 11:23)
Jeremiah makes
strong statements about how God’s people do not listen to his words. The
covenant was:
Obey my voice,
and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk only in the way that I
command you, so that it may be well with you.
But that is not
what has happened, says Jeremiah, in spite of so many messengers and prophets
sent to speak to the people:
Yet they did
not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will,
they walked in their own counsels and looked backward rather than forward.
As the Gospel of
today indicates in Jesus’ confrontation with some Pharisees, when people do not
want to believe, there is nothing that will change their minds. They will
refuse to acknowledge goodness staring them in the face.
We are not here to
sit in judgement on our predecessors. Readings like this are intended to help
us take a closer look at ourselves. What we need to do is to ask how these
words of Jeremiah apply to us. How carefully do we listen? How well do we carry
out the will of God in our lives? How clearly can we discern the presence of
God in our daily situations? What kind of influence or force are we in our
communities? Are we a force for greater unity or for division?
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Commentary on Luke 11:14-23
Amazement in the
Gospel does not always lead to faith. People are amazed to see Jesus liberate a
man who was unable to speak from the evil power that prevented him from
speaking. But rather than seeing here the clear intervention of God’s saving
power, they see in Jesus the power of another evil spirit. More than that, they
ask Jesus to give some special sign of his authority and identity.
Jesus shows up the
contradictions of their position. First, he has just given a powerful sign, but
they choose not to see it as such. Secondly, a divided household can only
collapse:
If Satan also
is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
If the answer is
by God’s power (the only other alternative), why should they make an exception
of Jesus? And, if it is by God’s power that Jesus liberates people from evil
powers, then they should know that God’s Kingdom—God’s reign—has come among
them. Far from being an accomplice, Jesus is the “strong man” who is driving
Satan from all his strongholds.
Both readings
today urge us to listen carefully to God speaking to us in our lives. Let us
not be blinded by prejudice of any kind, which might prevent us from
recognising the signs, the voice, or the hand of God in people and experiences
we encounter during any ordinary day.
There are many
times when we write off people and events, and as such fail to realise that God
is saying something important to us through them. People may be saints or
sinners—it does not matter. God can and does use any channel to reach us.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1035g/
Thursday,
March 12, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
many of us never had it so good
and so we have become smug and self-satisfied, happy in our own little world.
God, may our ears remain open to Your word
and our hearts to You and to our brothers and sisters. Do not allow us to
forget You, or to place our trust in ourselves. Make us restless for You
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Luke 11: 14-23
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds were
amazed. Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of
demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign
from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom
divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you
say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out
demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore, they
will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards
his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and
overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the
spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with
me scatters."
Reflection
Today’s Gospel is that of Luke. We already
meditated on the parallel text in Mark (Mk 3: 22-27) during January.
•
Luke 11: 14-16: The diverse reactions before the
expulsion of a devil. Jesus had expelled a devil which was mute. The expulsion
produced two different reactions. On the one side, the crowd of people who
remain astonished and surprised. The people accept Jesus and believe in Him. On
the other side, those who do not accept Jesus and do not believe in Him. Among
the latter, some said that Jesus cast out devils in the name of Beelzebul, the
prince of devils, and others wanted a sign from heaven. Mark says that it was a
question of the Scribes who had come from Jerusalem (Mk 3: 22), who were not in
agreement with the liberty of Jesus. They wanted to defend tradition against
the message of Jesus.
•
Luke 11: 17-22: Jesus’ answer is divided into
three parts:
•
1st part: Comparison with a divided
kingdom. (11: 17-18a) Jesus denounces the absurdity of the calumny of the
Scribes. To say that he casts out devils with the help of the prince of devils
means to deny the evidence. It is the same thing as saying that water is dry
and that the sun is darkness. The doctors of Jerusalem slandered Him because
they did not know how to explain the benefits which Jesus accomplished for the
people. They were afraid to lose their position of leadership. They felt
threatened in their authority before the people.
•
2nd part: through whom do your own sons
drive them out? (11: 18b-20) Jesus provokes the accusers and asks, “But if it
is through Beelzebul that I drive out devils, in whose name do your disciples
drive them out? Let them respond and explain themselves! If I drive out the
devil through the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has indeed caught you
unawares.”
•
3rd part: when someone stronger than
himself attacks and defeats him, the stronger one takes away all weapons. (11:
21-22) Jesus compares the devil to a strong man. Nobody, except a stronger
person, can rob the house of a strong man: Jesus is the strongest. This is why
He succeeds in entering the house and in getting hold of the strong man. He
succeeds in driving out the devils. Jesus seizes the strong man and now robs
his house, that is, He liberates the people who were under the power of evil.
The Prophet Isaiah had used the same comparison to describe the coming of the
Messiah (Is 49: 24-25). This is why Luke says that the expulsion of the devil
is an obvious sign that the Kingdom of God has arrived.
•
Luke 11: 23: Anyone who is not with Me is
against Me. Jesus ends His response with this sentence: “Anyone who is not with
Me is against Me. And anyone who does not gather in with Me throws away.” On
another occasion, also regarding the expulsion of a devil, the disciples
prevented a man from using the name of Jesus to drive out the devil because he
was not one of their group. Jesus answered, “You must not stop him: anyone who
is not against you is for you!” (Lk 9: 50). These two declarations seem to be
contradictory, but they are not. The sentence in today’s Gospel is directed to
the enemies who have a prejudice against Jesus: “Anyone who is not with Me is
against Me. And anyone who does not gather in with Me throws away.” The
prejudice and the lack of acceptance make dialogue impossible and break the
union. The other sentence is addressed to the disciples who thought they had
the monopoly on Jesus. “Anyone who is not against you is for you!” Many people
who are not Christian practice love, goodness, justice, many times in a much
better way than Christians. We must not exclude them. They are brothers and
workers in the construction of the Kingdom. We Christians are not Jesus’
owners. On the contrary, Jesus is our Lord!
Personal Questions
•
To be “with Me” or “against Me” can become a
complex question. At what point in belief or action would a person move from
being “with” to “against” Jesus and his message?
•
“Do not stop him, because anyone who is not
against you is for you!” How does this apply to the various Christian
interpretations of Jesus’ message today?
Concluding Prayer
Come, let us cry out with joy to
Yahweh, acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving, acclaim Him
with music. (Ps 95: 1-2)
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