Our Gospel verse from Mark describes Jesus arriving at Capernaum, where he enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and begins to teach. Bishop Barron writes: “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” The ordinary teachers would have appealed to their own teachers and authorities and, finally, to Moses and the Torah, which were unassailable. What would prevent the people from saying he was just crazy? Well, watch what happens next. Into the synagogue, there rushed a man with “an unclean spirit.” And he knows who Jesus is: “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But then Jesus demonstrates his authority: “‘Quiet, come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit convulsed him with a loud cry and came out of him.” The claim to God’s own authority is now ratified by showing power over the spiritual realm. Dr. Mary Healy writes that for Mark, evil is not an impersonal force but is concentrated in invisible, malevolent beings who are bent on destroying human beings and hindering God’s plan of salvation. These evil spirits are responsible for various mental and even physical disorders. The Church has always taught that demons are real spiritual beings, fallen angels who were created by God but became evil by their own free choice. Anyone tempted to dismiss accounts of demons as fables does not have to look far to see evidence of their influence today. Such phenomena as “racial cleansing,” group suicides, and the sexual abuse of children show more than merely human malice at work, seeking to destroy the image of God in man. But as frightening and real as the power of demons is, the authority of Christ is infinitely superior. Through his cross and resurrection, Christ definitively conquered the powers of hell. For the present time, however, their malicious actions are permitted by God, who can work good out of every evil.