February 1, 2015

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28

Everyone likes to feel secure. I would imagine that everyone also wants to know as I do: what’s on God’s mind and what He is telling us to do. Sacred Scripture calls this type of people…prophets. This word comes from the Greek and means ‘one who speaks before others’ the Greek word almost always denotes one who communicates divine revelation. The Hebrew word for prophet nabi could either mean ‘one who announces or proclaims a message’ or ‘one who is called.’

In today’s first reading the people are afraid. Moses is old, his days are numbered and the people do not want to be left orphaned after his death. Who will speak for God to them? Since what a true prophet says comes true, then only history will tell whether a prophet should be trusted or not. Moses is assuring them today that the people will be guided by intermediaries who stand between them and God. Listen to them.

Now all of Paul’s writings have to be understood through the lenses of eschatology. Paul believed that the end of the world was imminent. God would be coming soon to judge all people. He believed that God would be ending the current evil age of oppression and domination and create a new reign of justice and peace. So Paul insists that the details of society and family are not important since all this will soon pass away. Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings expresses it in this way: “Family life is wonderful. And family life is also full of stress and anxious concerns. To love someone necessarily means to suffer with him or her in times of distress. There’s no carefree version of love, even though the romantic phase of relationships may seem like a season in heaven. So St. Paul cautions his community that he thinks believers ought to seriously consider whether or not investing in family life is the right thing to do in his generation of crisis.

Paul, like most Christians of his century, anticipated the return of Jesus in a day-after-tomorrow sort of time frame. If we don’t know the day or the hour, it could be tonight, right? So starting a family, or a new business, or anything requiring long-term planning seemed a distraction. Paul himself was running all over the Mediterranean world hand-carrying the gospel like a wild sower throwing seed. This was anxiety-producing enough! Considering the ever-present danger in the enterprise, dragging a family behind him would have seemed downright unfair.”

In last Sunday’s Gospel, Mark tells us how Jesus started His ministry: “After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Then after the call of the first disciples, today’s Gospel shows how Jesus came to Capernaum and went into the Synagogue to teach. Why Capernaum; it was on the north end of the Sea of Galilee on the highway between Ptolemais and Damascus. It was an important Galilean town, a center of customs and the location of a tax office, so it had offices of the Roman administration. Mark says, “The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” Now this doesn’t mean the manner that Jesus taught but that He had the right to teach as He does. This is the whole point of the cure of a demoniac that comes next. Mark describes this man as having an “unclean spirit” which the footnote in the New American Bible says “an unclean spirit: so called because of the spirit’s resistance to the holiness of God. The spirit knows and fears the power of Jesus to destroy his influence.” It is interesting that after the sprit leaves the man, the crowd is amazed but responds in terms of Jesus’ ‘new teaching’ not His miracle of exorcism. Jesus has the authority. Jesus is speaking for God. Jesus is exercising His prophetic role. Jesus is telling the people that “…the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” If we don’t then we are opening ourselves to the devil…the false messenger of God...the one who wants to keep us as far away from God as possible.

It is very interesting that the imminent scripture scholar, Dr. Bonnie Bowman Thurston in Preaching Mark says: “In The Screwtape Letters, the eminently sensible C.S. Lewis notes that we make two mistakes vis-à-vis devils. We either assume they do not exist or we manifest an excessive (even obsessive) interest in them. Certainly Mark’s Gospel proclaims Jesus’ victory over the dark forces of the spirit world. But I suspect in our day the ‘contact point’ of the story is the exclusionary effect of possession. What are the ‘demons’ that exclude person from full participation in the worshipping community today? And how would Jesus respond to them?”

Look who Jesus did battle with throughout His public ministry? Wasn’t it the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees? These were the people who were the writers, the teachers and from the priestly class. These were the people who were educated and who had power and influence. These were the people who Jesus called hypocrites and brood of vipers because they were convinced of their own self-righteousness. They were convinced that they KNEW what God was saying. And since they KNEW this they were on the RIGHT ROAD. And isn’t it too bad that all the others had no hope of being saved. And Jesus came to all to redeem all. AM I LISTENING TO HIM? Do I feel that I have time so that when I am older I can look into the God question?

In less than a month, Lent will begin. Can I do a little pre-planning for this season? Could I focus more on: Prayer…The Eucharist, the Rosary, different prayer models and spend time in silence listening. Penance…individual sacrifices and devotions, and the sacrament of Penance, Stations of the Cross. Fasting…simple meals, cutting down of my food and goodie intake. Almsgiving…works of charity, participating in public activities that care for the needy. God is calling me, how am I preparing myself to respond to God?

So I reflect on:

• A conversion is a life-changing event. I look at the conversion that first made me a disciple of Jesus. I look at a later conversion that called me to re-order my priorities. HOW DO I DO THESE
• First…be silent…listen to the authoritative voice of God…
• Second …come out of him or her…get rid of something that has been a ‘weight’ that has kept me away from God and the person He needs me to be.
• I look back and reflect on of all the things Jesus said and taught, what has made the most impression on me? Why?
• I reflect on the experiences I had of being freed by someone and those that freed me from something. How was God present?

From Sacred Space 2015: Lord, I struggle to believe that You have overcome evil. Help me to see that You are at work in the small signs of love, justice, and truth around me.”