FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
31 JANUARY 2021
In
the first reading, Moses addresses his people at the end of their forty-year
journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. God had called Moses, because Moses was a
Hebrew and could understand the pain of his own kin. God had put words in his mouth that allowed
him to confront Pharaoh with the ten plagues.
Moses spoke for God during the Exodus, leading his people through the
Red Sea, mediating the Covenant at Mount Horeb (the northern kingdom’s name for
Mount Sinai), and showing them the manna provided by God for food and the water
from the rock for drink. He had
faithfully told them all that God had commanded. But all too often, they had rebelled and lost
trust in both God and Moses. Knowing
God’s endless mercy, Moses promises that God will raise up for them a prophet
like him to guide them, despite their tendency to harden their hearts and
ignore God’s voice.
Saint Mark
sees this promise fulfilled over a thousand years later when Jesus enters the
synagogue in Capernaum. Jesus speaks to
his own people. Instead of citing Moses
or the Torah, as the scribes did, Jesus speaks from his own authority. He impresses the congregation with his
words. However, one member possessed by
an unclean spirit knows exactly who Jesus is and understands his mission. He knows that Jesus has come to destroy the
power of the devil. As an early sign of
that mission, Jesus silences the unclean spirit and commands him to come
out. As a result, his fame quickly
spreads throughout the whole region of Galilee.
As we
listen to Mark’s Gospel in the course of this liturgical year, we will hear
Jesus consistently forbidding the recipients of his miracles from telling
anyone. Jesus does not work miracles to bring attention to him or to benefit
those who are close to him. Only when
Jesus speaks openly of his cross does he allow his followers to talk about his
miracles. His miracles will reveal his
true identity as the Son of God after his death on the cross and his
resurrection.
Saint Augustine remarked about this
passage, “These words show clearly that the demons had much knowledge, but
entirely lacked love.” The love of Jesus
is fully revealed on the cross. Knowledge
is important. But love is the best
filter to use with the knowledge we have been given. The love of Jesus silenced the imperfect
knowledge and opened the door to the possessed person to a relationship with
God and with the other members of the congregation.
We have knowledge about Jesus
through the Words of Scripture. We also
know about the ultimate act of love that Jesus expressed on the cross. But we can also harden our hearts and ignore
God’s voice. We can choose to ignore the cross.
Instead of dying to ourselves, we can put our needs and desires before
others, even those close to us. Saint
Mark does not specify the nature of the unclean spirit. But unclean spirits still exist, and they can
control us. We can have an unclean
spirit when we think that we are smarter than God, or if we allow our egos to
get in the way of our relationship with God.
Unclean spirits can take the form of alcoholism or drug addiction,
taking control of our lives. Unclean
spirits can drag us through the darker parts of Facebook or twitter, leading us
away from the truth of God’s Word and God’s love.
At the beginning of the Gospel of Mark,
Jesus drives out the unclean spirit. At
the end of the Gospel, he breaks through the locked doors where his disciples
are hiding. He breathes on them and
gives them his mercy. We heed the Lord’s
call to repent when we have the humility to admit that we have unclean
spirits. The Lord can free us. Saint Paul tells the Corinthians not to waste
time in repenting. He insists that they
get rid of their distractions. He says
the same to us, urging us not to harden our hearts. Instead, we can hear his voice and embrace
the cross as the ultimate act of love and incorporate it into our daily lives.
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