According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2006 there were a total of 635,000 registered "counselors" in the United States and that does not include psychologists and psy-chiatrists nor does it include those who are unregistered and sim-ply hang a "shingle" outside their home espousing a talent for helping or healing others. Add to those numbers a large group under the title of "clergy" who offer marriage, family and spiri-tual counseling. That’s a lot of counseling going on.

Government statistics also claim that the number of em-ployed "counselors" from marriage and family therapists, sub-stance abuse and addiction counselors, educational, vocational, and rehabilitation counselors and mental health counselors will increase by the year 2018 in the ranges of 30%, 34%, 13%, 30%, and 23%, respectively. If one were to have, say 5 "clients" each, that would mean that some 3,175,000 people seek "professional" help each year in the United States.

People go for counseling for a whole host of reasons far more than the categories of counselors note. Stress, broken family relationships, seeking answers to difficult life decisions, and the elimination of demons or dark passions that cause so much suffering for so many people, just to name a few. And while there are good and helpful counselors there are also those whose skills and practices leave a great deal to be desired. Yet, talking with someone with an objective outlet can be a constructive way of working out one’s problems.

In the days that Jesus walked the earth there were many "counselors" or as they were known in ancient times, "healers," both good ones and charlatans too. To be sure, Jesus was the greatest good One of them all. But the decision to select a good one can be a difficult task. Just how do you pick the right one?

Over the last few weeks I have been contacted by a doc-tor and a counselor of two different patients who are being treated for ills and are also seeking spiritual counseling. One patient lives in a nearby town, the other in an institution but both are looking for help in the elimination of perceived demons or some form of evil. To be frank, they want an exorcist. For the Church this is no laughing matter. While the Church does not perform exorcisms everyday, this is a serious concern and takes a great deal of inves-tigation by trained professionals—both medical and spiritual— before a decision is made on how to proceed.

There is no denying that there is evil in the world. Evil comes in all forms and can affect all people not just the Hitler’s or Saddam Hussein’s or Jeffrey Dahmer’s of the world; some are able to fight off evil while others are overcome by the power of darkness for many reasons. And while the Church does not exor-cise people left-and-right this does not mean nor should Catholics presume that Satan and evil are just ancient thoughts. What the Church does do is eliminate physiological or mental or emotional sicknesses and in consultation with medical professionals makes a particular call on how to proceed. Yet, we cannot, as faith-filled people, fail to recognize that the antidote for the ever-present evil in the world is indeed the Sacrament of Reconciliation which wipes clean sin and provides God’s grace in our lives enabling us to live life as He calls us to live it in righteousness. Getting back to counseling…

The first reading today has Moses announcing to the people that God will raise up a prophet who will speak for the Lord and that the people must listen to Him. The prophet will speak only what the Lord commands Him to speak. Jesus is the anointed spirit of God and will speak only the Truth of God to the people. And this was immediately known to the people of Capernaum in that synagogue.

The people of Capernaum heard all the religious leaders before telling them how to live their lives, what the laws of the faith mean, and what they as individuals must do in order to be righteous. But Jesus was different. He spoke with authority a type of integrity that was recognized as truth something that applied to all peoples and was not based on status or power nor on the blood lines of families or on royalty but based on Truth, equally applied to everyone. If that were not enough, Jesus dem-onstrated His power in very dramatic ways: raising the dead, heal-ing the blind and deaf, feeding the multitudes, and cleansing the leper. He was different. Goodness flowed from Him to all including the unclean spirit who heard Jesus’ words and recog-nized His authority. It fled and fled fast.

The power of God’s word was spoken directly to all and it was plain for everyone to hear. And while not everyone who listened to Jesus was convinced and taken by Him, for sometimes the human heart hears what it wants to hear, for those who were willing to listen and to hear the Word of God, the power was overwhelming. Jesus spoke with passion and compassion He never demands or shouts or screams, but rather He lets those who have ears hear.

Today, the Word of God needs to be communicated in the same manner: passionately and compassionately. We who have heard the Spirit of God speak to us in Sacred Scripture, in the teachings and compassion of the Church, in the works of priests, deacons and religious, in the passion of religious educa-tion teachers and ministry volunteers, in the untold numbers of men and women who feed the hungry, care for the lonely and the sick, who reach out to the lost and the forgotten, who nurture the young into seeing their role in our great faith these are the "good counselors" of truth and not the charlatans who declare "my way or the highway." It is with Truth that we truly speak.

Words can heal, they can also hurt. The truth, spoken with passion and compassion means that even difficult choices can be made more easily acceptable. The Inspired Word of God the words of comfort, of forgiveness, of mercy; the well-chosen words that call us back to the Father rather than push us further away will all heal. God’s word of authority can overcome all situations even in the darkest of places, for He is the Lord of all.

Let us use God’s words of passion and compassion to heal ourselves and others and to welcome all home in God.

Peace,

-Fr. Michael