Homily- Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)- Sunday 9 June 2024 –Rev. Dr. Patrick Mathias SDB

 

Sunday 9 June 2024 – Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Mass Readings: Gen 3: 9-15   Ps 129   2 Cor 4:13-5:1   Mk 3:20-35

Key Verse to Meditate: "And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. "And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand (Mk 3:24-25).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

After the solemnities of the Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost Sunday, the Most Holy Trinity, and the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ, all celebrations linked to Easter, this Sunday the liturgical calendar of the year resumes the Sundays in Ordinary Time. The Gospel readings on these Sundays in Ordinary Time project the life and public ministry of Jesus. People welcome Jesus through His powerful teachings, healings, and miracles. However, opposition to Jesus also began to grow. While the crowd marveled at His wondrous deeds, performed with the power of the Holy Spirit, the prejudiced religious authorities continued to oppose Him, denying His divine presence. The Liturgy of the Word invites us to become brothers and sisters in the family of God. We need to thank God as we look to the future with confidence, knowing that even sinful situations can become points of God's grace and salvation.

The First reading: The first reading today presents the encounter of God with Adam and Eve after their sin of disobedience to God's command (Gen 3:3). It is truly dramatic. God does not leave humans in their sin and struggle against sin. Delicately, He comes in search of the man He created. The first question ever posed to the created man was, "Where are you?" (Gen 3:9), a question of care and concern. The second question to the first man was, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (Gen 3:11). God wanted man to take responsibility for his disobedience. God also questioned the woman, asking, "What is this you have done?" (Gen 3:13). The man blamed the woman, his helper, and the woman blamed the serpent, saying it deceived her. Responsibility in the life of grace depends on our co-responsibility with God's grace. They lived a life of grace, but the temptation to not accept their own limitations led them to do sinful things against the Creator.

The Second Reading: In the second reading today, St. Paul invites the people to give thanks to the greater glory of God. He also affirms, along with the Christian community, that just as it is written in the Scriptures, we first believed and therefore have the moral authority to speak (2 Cor 4:13). Paul exhorted his Christian community to become more and more faith-filled by placing their trust in things they have not seen: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor 4:18).

The Gospel Reading: The Gospel of this Sunday begins by saying that Jesus was in a house and was besieged by the crowd, who did not even give Him and the apostles time to eat. Everyone turns to Him to be healed of their illnesses and to be freed from the torments of the devil. His enemies take advantage of this situation to claim that He Himself is possessed by the devil and "casts out demons by the chief of demons." The Gospel passage from Mark 3:20-35 has two parts. The first part tells us about the controversy between the scribes and Jesus, accusing Him of being possessed by Beelzebul and casting out demons by the ruler of demons (vv. 22-30). The second part is the story about Jesus’ family (3:20-21, 31-35), wherein they intend to take Jesus back to Nazareth with them (Mk 1:9).

 The section about Jesus’ family redefines who constitutes His family. Jesus is at home, probably in Capernaum of Galilee, in the home of one of the apostles. A crowd has gathered to hear Jesus, and news reaches Him that His mother and brothers are waiting outside to meet Him. But Jesus’ immediate reaction of a question startles everyone: "Who are My mother and My brothers?" (Mk 3:33). Looking around at those who sat near Him to listen to Him, Jesus said, "Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother" (Mk 3:34-35). Naturally, we notice a kind of lack of sympathy on the part of Jesus towards His mother and brothers. But by saying this, Jesus pointed out the higher reality of spiritual relationship and association.

Priority of the “Spiritual Family” over the “Earthly Family”: Jesus taught the people that his true family consists of those who respond positively to Him rather than those who are physically related to Him. In fact, Jesus was positively speaking of His family, where His parents were excellent people who carried out God’s will and were obedient to it. By this act of Christ, Mark was encouraging his Gentile readers and hearers that a relationship with God is not a matter of genetics but of obedience to God’s will. It is by doing God’s will that everyone becomes a part of the family of God and His Son. Jesus’ teaching became radical in the sense that He did not teach that physical relationships have no value, but only that they must be subordinated to spiritual relationships. Jesus taught the crowd that family relationships are not unimportant in themselves, but that the higher priority of the call to discipleship, in light of the proclamation of the kingdom of God, needs to take precedence over natural family ties. Everyone, in light of hearing God’s word, must make an effort to become a part of the family of God and His Son.

Jesus and Beelzebul: There is a logical connection between the first part, wherein His family members said, “He is beside Himself,” and the following verses, wherein the scribes say that Jesus is possessed by the devil himself. In Mark 3:23-27, we have the accusation of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, saying that Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul and that "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons" (Mk 3:22). Jesus replied by showing how foolish they were in their accusation against Him. If He cast out demons by demonic power, Satan would be working against himself. Jesus illustrated His claim with three short parables: 1. He spoke of the divided kingdom (v. 24); 2. the divided house (vv. 25-26); and 3. the binding of the strong man by a stronger one (v. 27). The “strong man” referred to here is Satan, and the stronger one is Jesus Himself, who alone has the power to bind Satan and carry off his possessions by exorcising demons.

Sin Against the Holy Spirit: After clarifying things to the scribes and the people around Him, Jesus taught them a serious lesson for life. Jesus said all sins will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. What is meant by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Jesus used very strong words against the scribes because they attributed to Satan and his demons the works of the Holy Spirit manifested in Jesus' ministry. It was a direct act of slander against Jesus, who was full of the Holy Spirit from His birth (Lk 1:35). In Mark 3:30, the evangelist defines the sin that "will never be forgiven" as attributing to Satan and his demons the works of the Holy Spirit manifested in Jesus' ministry. Therefore, the sin that leads to death is likely the refusal to identify the divine Christ with the human Jesus. The unforgivable sin is the stubborn refusal to acknowledge that God is working in and through Jesus. That’s why Jesus says that all blasphemies may be forgiven, but not those against the Holy Spirit. The scribes, blinded in their opposition to the Lord, spread the rumour that Jesus has power over demons because He is submitted to Beelzebul.

In other words, the scribes expressed their complete moral blindness in their charge against Jesus, claiming that the Spirit in Jesus was the devil instead of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus attributed His expulsion of evil spirits to the Holy Spirit, the unbelieving scribes scrupulously attributed the act of expulsion to the demons. But Jesus ridiculed the strange notion expressed in Mark 3:22b that the ruler of demons might allow his power to be used against his own forces. We all know that the Holy Spirit is the divine power to which the acts of Jesus are attributed. The Spirit is represented as descending on Him at His baptism (Lk 3:22), driving Him into the wilderness (Lk 4:1), and empowering Him to begin His ministry in Galilee (Lk 4:14).

What is Meant by the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? Exorcism has been one of the most prominent aspects of Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee. In Mark, His reputation began to spread after the first miracle at the synagogue in Galilee where He cast out an unclean spirit from a man. Seeing this, the people marvelled and said, "He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him" (Mk 1:27). On many occasions, Jesus would not allow the demons to declare His identity as the Son of God (Mk 1:24-25, 34; 3:11-12). Therefore, His powerful commands and perfect casting out of demons from many individuals exhibited His supremacy over the evil powers as the Son of God. The accusation in Mark 3:22 is a blind attempt by the scribes to turn this perception against Jesus by attributing the source of that power to evil rather than to good.

Jesus upbraided them for their prejudice and for their evil act of confusing the Spirit of God with the spirit of darkness (Mk 3:28-30). Hence, Jesus’ control over demonic power signifies the collapse of the kingdom of Satan (Mk 3:24-26) and the arrival of the kingdom of God. The power of Satan has now been defeated by the holy presence of Jesus. The strong man, namely Satan, is now bound, and his possessions are destroyed by the stronger man, Jesus (Mk 3:27). The ‘binding’ of the strongman is being achieved not simply by a man, but by a man in whom the Spirit of God is working. The exorcisms reveal the spiritual dimension of the ministry of Jesus, which the scribes denied and doubted. Above all, exorcism not only exhibits the power of Jesus but also proves the holy presence of God among them.

Points for Personal Reflection:

In today’s Gospel Jesus points out the absurdity of the accusations against Him: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will not be able to stand; if Satan rebels against himself, it is finished!" He then adds one of the disturbing in the Bible: "Everything will be forgiven to men, sins, and even all blasphemies; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven forever." Blaspheming against the Spirit means persisting in calling good what we know is evil, and vice versa. It means, in other words, denying what conscience recognizes as right and true. Anyone who persists in this attitude cannot be forgiven, not because God cannot or does not want to do so, but because such a person would deny the need and desire to be forgiven. God respects man's freedom and does not force anyone to accept His gifts.

By asking, "Who are My mother and My brothers?" (Mk 3:33), Jesus did not show that He did not love His mother. Certainly not. But Jesus was pointing out to each of us that we become His brothers, sisters, and mother if we do the will of God in our lives (Mk 3:35). It is possible for everyone to become a "relative" of Jesus. But the condition is that we must be willing to be obedient to God’s commandments and embrace everyone as brothers and sisters in the family of God.

Do I indulge in the blame game? How do I take responsibility for my actions? Do I desire to be as brothers and sisters in God’s family? Do I give thanks to God and look to the future with confidence? Do I trust God in my moments of trials and weaknesses? Do I pray to the Holy Spirit to assist me in my life’s struggle against sin and temptations?

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