HOMILY FOR SATURDAY:  FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Micah 2:1-5; Psalm 10; Matthew 12:14-21

Through Prophet Micah in the first reading, God speaks against those who plot evil and carry out oppression. Today, there are all kinds of discrimination and oppression. God is still speaking against evil through the Church and her ministers. In the Gospel, Jesus had to withdraw from a particular region because of the plot of the Pharisees against him. This is right application of prudence and avoidance of violence. Beloved in Christ, in as much as we continue to pray against evil men and their plot, we must not cease to withdraw from their territory as well. Ps.1:1 considers a man as blessed if he does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. Lord save us from evil plots.

PRAYER AGAINST EVERY EVIL

Spirit of our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Immaculate Virgin Mary, angels, archangels, and saints of heaven, descend upon me. Please purify me, Lord, mold me, fill me with yourself, use me. Banish all the forces of evil from me, destroy them, vanquish them, so that I can be healthy and do good deeds. Banish from me all spells, witchcraft, black magic, evil spells, ties, curses and the evil eye; diabolic infestations, oppression, possessions; all that is evil and sinful, jealousy, deceitfulness, envy; physical, psychological, moral, spiritual and diabolical ailments. Burn all these evils in hell, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world. I command and bid all the powers who molest me—by the power of God all powerful, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary–to leave me forever, and to be consigned into the everlasting hell, where they will be bound by Saint Michael the archangel, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, our guardian angels, and where they will be crushed under the heel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.