People usually answer, “Thanks be to God,” after the lector says, “The Word of the Lord!” But do we really know why we say “thanks be to God?”

When the Sacred Scriptures are read in Church, God Himself is speaking to His people, and Christ, present in His Word, proclaims the Gospel (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 29).

We respond, “Thanks be to God,” because God is speaking to us through the Scripture readings, and by hearing the word of God His will becomes active in our hearts and souls. In His word, God is revealing His very self. This is indeed a great gift. We not only hear the Word of God but have the opportunity for the Word of God to take root in our very being and we enter into an intimate relationship with our Creator. “Thanks be to God” is our response to God’s gift of Scripture.

We also recognize that when the Gospel is read it is Christ Himself preaching to us, and we therefore proclaim, “Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today, we can see the power of God’s Word through Jesus.

Jesus shows His prophetic commitment by letting people hear the message of God and see its effect in our lives.

Jesus performed an exorcism on a man who was possessed by evil spirits that attempted to disturb the teaching session the Lord in a synagogue during the Sabbath. In those days, healing was considered work and was not allowed on the Sabbath, but Jesus did as He ought in order to let those Pharisees, scribes and teachers of the law know that He as the Word made flesh preserves and promotes life and the wellbeing of a person who is more important than any law.

Also, we can read in the Gospel how Jesus rebuked the “unclean spirits,” the evil spirits that tried to reveal before the people that Jesus is the Holy One of God, the One Whom the Lord had promised to send unto us His people, as He had promised throughout time and history, such as He had promised through Moses. The irony was that, while many of the people to whom God had sent His Son refused to believe in the One Whom God had sent, it was the evil spirits who acknowledged and recognized the Lord and proclaimed Him regardless of their ulterior motives.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who often obstructed the Lord’s work and ministry were often against Jesus because they refused to accept the fact that their way of believing in things and practicing the Law could have been wrong. They took great pride in their intelligence and sense of superiority over all others that they became enamored and corrupted and ended up rejecting the truth and the salvation of God when they should have been the first to realize Who the Lord Jesus was and what He represented and taught the people. Their pride, ego and greed were great barriers and obstacles that prevented them from opening their hearts and minds to God and His love, His truth and the Good News.

That is why through the Scripture passages we hear this Sunday all of us are reminded to always focus on Jesus and center our lives and existence on Him. We are all reminded that the various temptations present all around us in this world, the falsehoods of the devil, and all those seeking our ruin and destruction can bring us to our downfall, and we have to be ever vigilant lest all these distractions and temptations mislead us down this wrong path. We have to put our faith and trust as always in the Lord, allowing Him to lead and guide us on the path of righteousness and grace.