Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the fifteenth week in ordinary time, July 14, 2025

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Diocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Exodus 1: 8-14.22; Rs psalm 124: 1-3.4-6.7-8; Matthew 10: 34 - 11: 1.SPIRITUAL SWORD The title for our meditation today is:Spiritual Sword. Why does the Lord Jesus describe the mission and coming of theKingdom of God in the forms of war, conflict and division? Jesus says to theapostles and all of us that He does not come to bring peace, but the sword. Thesword here is not in the physical sense that is used to cut off the head orinjure the body. But the sword or spiritual weapon that pierces into the depthsof the hearts and minds of men who are possessed by sin and in the power ofdarkness. The power of evil, sin and badintention cannot be defeated by human strength alone. What great, brave andsmart human person is, when he encounters the power of darkness, he will besubdued and perished. This power enters human beings with the aim of destroyingand afflicting those possessed either person or group of people. This powerdoes not have preference. It chooses anybody as its targets. It usually entersa person who is weak mentally and spiritually. One example for this should be theevil spirit happened to rule over the Egyptian king when Joseph the son ofIsrael had died. He was filled with the spirits of jealousy, discrimination,hatred, anger, greed and injustices. He decided to destroy the descendants ofIsrael by implementing forced labors and the killing of the newly born malebabies. The intention was to finally stop the increase number of thedescendants of Israel. The Egyptian King was fear that someday the Israelites wouldoutnumber his countrymen and eventually rule over them. This is a kind of war,like drawing a sword to cut off the spirit of human life and destroy thedescendants of the Israelites. The sword and war used in Egypt in thephysical sense had destroyed the human bodies, social and cultural life, andintegrity of life itself. The same sword and war but spiritually instead usedby Jesus to destroy the enemy namely sin and evil. The sword of Jesus is theWord of God with two equally sharp sides that protect and defend our spiritsand souls, considerations of the mind and the goals of the our hearts. So theWord of God is really the sword of the Spirit to destroy the spirit of darknessand any sinful act that destroy our dignity as sons and daughters of God. So Jesus says that He comes to bringdestruction and even division between brothers and sisters, because even in theclose relationship as a family there indeed exsists the power of darkness andevil that may continue to flourish. The Lord Jesus remains in his power to makeus sons and daughters of God to live righteously, peacefully and rejoice in theHoly Spirit. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Encourage and fulfill our lives today, O Father, that the fire ofYour Spirit may burn our spirit to be active and diligent in fighting all kindsof darkness that can destroy us in any moment of our lives. Glory to the Fatherand to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...