Meditation
Many have observed that we now live in a post-Christendom culture. As a result, the Catechumenate is being restored in many parts of the Christian world. Dating back to the third century, before Christianity became the official religion of the state, the Catechumenate was a process to prepare adults for baptism at the Great Vigil of Easter. On this Third Sunday in Lent, it was customary for the congregation to offer special prayers for the candidates for baptism. These “scrutinies” asked God for deliverance from the powers of darkness and for illumination by the light of Christ’s presence. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus contends with the powers of darkness manifested in the oppression of demons.
The story tells of Jesus’ encounter with a woeful creature, a man tormented by unclean spirits who lived among the tombs and “was always howling and bruising himself with stones.” His neighbors tried to protect him from his self-destructive behavior, but even the chains and shackles used to restrain him eventually proved futile as the power of evil increased. The demoniac was unable to help himself, nor did his community possess the resources to protect him. What was needed was divine intervention. “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Jesus commanded, and the oppressed man was set free.
Today, recalling that in baptism we once renounced “Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God” (BCP p. 302), we seek God’s continued deliverance from the powers of darkness and for the persistent brilliance of Christ’s presence. We scrutinize or examine the ways we are disobedient “by what we have done, and by what we have left undone” (BCP p. 360), confident of the Holy One’s forgiveness, illumination, and protection from evil.
