FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
28 JANUARY 2024
At
the time of Jesus, scribes and anyone claiming to be a teacher based their
teachings on the authority of a previous scholar of the law. Ultimately, they traced all their teaching
authority to Moses. In today’s reading
from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses calls himself the prophet. But he also promises that God will raise up
for his people among their kin a prophet like him.
Mark sees
this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, who returns to Capernaum, the center
of his ministry in Galilee. Unlike the
scribes and other rabbis, he preaches with his own authority. People are amazed at his teaching, but are
unable to connect the dots to know his true identity. However, the unclean spirit who possesses the
man knows exactly who he is. The unclean
spirit knows that Jesus is the prophet promised by Moses. The unclean spirit realizes that Jesus is
lord of the Sabbath, unlike the scribes who will eventually condemn Jesus for
ignoring the Law of Moses by healing on the Sabbath. The unclean spirit knows that Jesus will
eventually destroy the power of the demons by entering into the darkness of
death himself.
At this
Mass, we continue to listen to Jesus speaking directly to each one of us. We know that he fulfills the prophecy of
Moses. He speaks with authority to us. In celebrating his death and resurrection
made present at this Eucharist, we know what that unclean spirit knows. He has defeated the power of Satan. He has the power to drive him out. But the demons never quit. They do everything possible to distract us
from believing this mystery.
There is no
shortage of the demon’s activities in our world today. Wars are raging out of control, and innocent
victims are suffering greatly. We live
in a deeply divided and polarized society, where we tend to demonize those who
disagree with us. There is a callous
disregard for the sanctity of human life.
It is so much easier to put other priorities first. It is becoming more difficult to tell the
difference between what is true and what is false. As the father of lies, the devil loves the chaos
caused by so many untruths.
Saint Paul
is fully aware of his own demons when he writes to the Church at Corinth. He had been blind to the truth about Jesus of
Nazareth and had persecuted his followers.
He had been arrogant and prideful of the way he practiced his faith as a
Pharisee. But he encountered the Lord on
the road to Damascus. He recognized
Jesus Christ is the long-promised Messiah who could cast out his demons. He preached this message to the Gentiles as a
celibate man. Each one of us is a
follower of Jesus Christ in our current vocations. Most of you are married, and some of us
remain single or committed to living a celibate life. In his Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul
is speaking from his own perspective. As
a celibate man, he concentrates all his energies in embracing the person of
Jesus Christ, who had cast out his demons.
We also need to acknowledge that we have demons that speak lies to us
and tempt us to believe that division and hatred and chaos are part of the
fabric of human life. Jesus has the
power to cast out those demons. He can free
us to trust more completely in his power.
With our demons cast out, we can have the serenity of the man in today’s
Gospel. We can know the peace that Saint
Paul lived with, even in the midst of all of the challenges he faced.
The Season
of Lent is coming much more quickly than usual this year. As we prepare to enter those forty days of
repentance, we might spend some time in prayer to identify the demons that each
of us possesses. It might be the demon
of arrogance and pride. It might be the
demon of attraction to an unhealthy habit.
It might be the demon of envy or greed or jealousy. It might be the demon that continues to tell us
that we cannot trust in the Lord’s plan for us.
Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we can face our demons and
allow the Lord to drive them out.
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