June 10, 2018

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Genesis 3: 9-15; 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5:1; Mark 3: 20-35 How confident am I in God? Do I believe that He is always helping and leading me to His heavenly home? Do I realize that the devil definitely does not want me to believe in God? Do I believe that the devil is leading me away from God…away from His help…away from His love? Do I understand that one of the cruelest tricks of the devil is to say that God doesn’t care about me, so I better care about me all the time? (A side track—Thesaurus describes cruelest, an adjective as: ‘brutal, savage, inhuman, barbaric barbarous, brutish, vicious, bloodthirsty, wicked, murderous, sadistic, evil, etc. The devil never wants us to think he is associated with any of these words but he is.) The devil misleads us all the time! As we progress each day in the Spiritual life we have to name what is happening to us. The First reading from the Book of Genesis sets the scene for the ‘devil’s workshop.’ Up to this time everything has been fine in the Garden. Now for the first time things are not as God commanded. God told Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. This prohibition was to protect Adam and Eve from harmful consequences, one of them was death. They felt that they ‘knew better’ and listened to someone else’s advice, whom they found out, was not at all concerned with their welfare. This is exactly the pattern that has lead to my downfall and my tendency to sin. What happens when ‘I fall into sin?’ I blame myself…I beat myself up…I’m afraid of someone finding out that I am a ‘miserable person’. I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed. Adam and Eve felt this, they hid from God using the excuse that they were ‘naked’. Beforehand they were comfortable being with God, now they are ashamed. THIS IS ANOTHER consequence from which God wanted to protect them. As we read along we see more consequences where God wanted to protect them: childbirth…the exertion of working in the fields, and return to the ‘earth’ from which they were taken that we see in the next verses from today’s reading. (Genesis 3: 16-18) We see another hurtful consequence…both Adam and Eve switch the blame, pointing the finger at the other and not admitting their own fault. They had God’s word to protect them and advise them and they chose differently. Not much has changed. We still are learning…when will it end. Msgr. Chet Michael frequently described the major sins of humans as: Pride, Possessions, and Pleasure… Fr. Richard Rohr adds, Prestige to this list. Where do my faults lie…in all of these areas…but God continually gives His grace and help to lead me closer to Himself and heaven. Thank You Lord, I need You every second of every minute. Paul switches the focus or more accurately adds to this theme by switching attention, “…to the one who raised the Lord Jesus”…and who “raise us also with Jesus and place us with You in His presence. Everything indeed is for You, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.” Msgr. Chet Michael repeatedly said that the way to ensure that we are on the right track to the Lord is by being grateful for God’s continued presence, His love and His grace. He would say, “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.” Paul tells us to look ahead to the glory of life in God’s kingdom. Here on earth everything is transitory, it is to be replaced by what is eternal with God forever…Heaven, our home. Mark’s gospel passage continues to see what happens when we lose sight of God, His words, His way and His love. The religious leaders, the ones who were trained and educated in God’s ways felt they ‘knew it all’. They were the only ones who had insight into God’s commands, His ways, and His love. They lived by the axiom of, ‘who are you to think otherwise…we are the scholars, the one’s appointed by God.’ The crowds were coming to Jesus, not to these ‘experts.’ Even with all this popularity, Jesus’ family from Nazareth came to take Jesus away because “He is out of His mind.” There is no hint why they came to do this…perhaps they felt that the authorities would take Jesus away and put Him in prison or execute Him especially because of all that He did on the Sabbath. Maybe they were scandalized because of the family name. We just don’t know. What is present is that the people you would expect to support Jesus did not even support Him at this time of need. Now the scribes and religious leaders were quick to pick up on this by saying that Jesus was ‘possessed’. Jesus did drive out demons, but they said it was because He had demons inside of Him. Jesus says NO! Love and anger and hate do not go together. Jesus then makes reference to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as being a sin that can never be forgiven. People refer this to the ‘un-forgivable sin.’ They think that this is the sin in my past life that is so horrendous that even God cannot forgive this. This adds to the fact that they feel they are alienated from God or that God does not love them. THE REALITY is that SIN against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is unforgivable because it rejects the very source of forgiveness itself — God. So many times in my life I have felt ‘hopeless’ because I felt lost, or God just doesn’t love me because of my sins. I have neglected to pay attention to the gifts and tools that God has given me to ‘recreate’ my life as being a loving person. What has happened is that someone came and somehow touched me with love and I just couldn’t believe that I was lovable? This was none other that the Holy Spirit again affirming that God loves me. I don’t need to hide. Each day the Holy Spirit gives me the grace to stand before Him and allow Him to transform me and bring something good out of whatever I have botched up. The key to the readings and today’s message is found in the Psalm Response, “With the Lord there is mercy, and fulness of redemption.” Read Psalm 130, A Prayer for Pardon and Mercy. The last sentence says it all: “For with the Lord is kindness, with Him is full redemption, And God will redeem Israel from all their sins.” AND ME! So I reflect on: • What are some of the signs in my life that tell me that I am clearly connected to Jesus and the will of God? • When have I felt so cut up that evil seemed stronger that good? What brought me back to a realization that God is love? And God loves me? • I look at the times I have experienced God’s mercy and love. • Where do I fix my gaze: on what is seen or on what is unseen? Sacred Space 2018 states: “When we follow our spiritual path, sometimes our closest companions are not those in our own family—or even our oldest friends. Lord, help me let go of those who choose not to come with me as I walk with You. Jesus words probably upset expectations in a culture that was so family and tribe-centered. He was not criticizing His family, but expanding the definition of who His family was. Who is my expanded family, the one that includes those in God’s family?