Jesus said ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house…if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.’ Luke 11:14-23 [NRSV]
The text of today’s gospel was well known to Abraham Lincoln. He used the image of the house divided in a speech of 17 June 1858, at the close of the Republican State Convention – about seven years before the events depicted in the film, Lincoln. We might pray that we be properly single-minded this Lent: asking God to heal any division we notice in our own hearts.
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