Daily Catholic Lectio. Thu, 12 March ‘26. With Me or Against Me

Daily Catholic Lectio

Thu, 12 March ‘26

Third Week of Lent, Thursday

Jeremiah 7:23–28. Luke 11:14–23

With Me or Against Me

Today’s Gospel presents a striking moment in the ministry of Jesus. He heals a man who was mute because of a demon. Suddenly the man speaks again. A powerful act of liberation has taken place. Yet the reactions around Jesus are very different.

Some people admire and are amazed. Others accuse him, saying that he drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul. Still others ask for a sign, testing him. Three reactions to the same event: wonder, suspicion, and testing.

Human hearts often respond to God in these same ways. When God acts in our lives, when grace touches us, when something good and freeing happens, we can respond with gratitude—or with doubt and resistance.

Jesus responds firmly to those who accuse him. He uses a simple image: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste.” Evil cannot fight against itself. If Satan were casting out Satan, his kingdom would collapse.

Then Jesus adds another image: when a strong man guards his house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger comes, he overpowers him and takes away his weapons. Jesus is revealing something profound: the coming of God’s kingdom means that a stronger power has arrived. Christ has come to defeat the power of evil and to set humanity free.

But the Gospel ends with a very direct statement: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Jesus leaves no space for neutrality. Discipleship cannot be half-hearted. One cannot stand comfortably in the middle. Either we walk with Christ, or we drift away from him.

The first reading from Jeremiah speaks about this same problem. God laments through the prophet: “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God.” But the people refuse to listen. They follow the stubbornness of their own hearts. Instead of moving forward in faith, they move backward in resistance. Finally God says something very sad: “Truth has perished.”

When people stop listening to God, truth slowly disappears.

This is also a danger for us today. The Gospel warns us about half-hearted faith. A divided heart is dangerous. One part of us belongs to Christ, but another part clings to pride, resentment, comfort, or fear.

Lent invites us to examine our response to Jesus.

First, how do we react when Jesus acts in our life? When grace touches us, do we receive it with wonder? Or do we complain and murmur? Sometimes we behave like the crowd in the Gospel—always asking for another sign before we believe.

Second, what are the forces that oppose Christ within our own hearts? Often the greatest fall in life is not when we fall in front of others, but when we fall in front of ourselves. The real battle is inside us: between faith and fear, generosity and selfishness, truth and compromise.

Third, are we moving forward with God, or slowly going backward? The people in Jeremiah’s time were not progressing in faith; they were retreating into stubbornness. Faith always moves forward—toward deeper trust, deeper love, deeper obedience.

Jesus’ words today challenge us: “Whoever is not with me is against me.”

This does not mean that Jesus wants to divide people. Rather, he calls us to clarity and commitment. The kingdom of God grows when people gather with Christ, when they work with him, when their lives cooperate with his grace.

So today we ask ourselves: Am I truly with Christ? Is my heart united with him? Do my choices gather with him—or scatter away from him?

During this Lenten season, the Lord invites us to move from hesitation to decision, from divided hearts to faithful discipleship. Because when we stand with Christ, the stronger one, his victory over evil also becomes our freedom.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy