4TH Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle “B” – January 31, 2021 - Mark 1: 21-28 People who heard Jesus preach and saw him heal the man possessed by an evil spirit were agog! They said Jesus taught with real authority, and that the power of God was evident in him. It raises a basic religious question for myself, and perhaps for others of you with me: “Who’s in charge inside YOU?” Some of you may recall that parents of another generation would challenge their children’s faulty thinking, especially when it came to following someone blinding, by asking a question such as: “If your friend told you he could fly, and was about to jump off the roof, would you be so dumb as to join him in doing that!?” It’s true: we all need to think like individuals, and also we need to “own up” to the results of decisions we have made in the past. So again, whose power, whose authority, whose word winds up ruling your and my decisions or priorities on an everyday basis?
To be sure: it’s NOT an easy road! Look at where we’ve travelled to and from during these last ten and a half months of COVID-19! Thank God we have the Eucharist to sustain and strengthen us to make better choices. Right after the Our Father at Mass, the priest invites us all to pray these following words to God: “deliver us Lord, we pray, from every evil … grant peace in our days … may we be always free from sin and safe from all distress.” Yes: Distress: the root cause of so many of our anxieties. That reminds me of a famous statement printed in a church bulletin with a general invitation, which said: “Don’t Let Stress Kill You: Let the Church Help!” Wait: Let the Church Help Kill you? No. Let the church help de-stress you? Yes, I hope for all our sakes it’s the latter!
As Catholic Christians, we’d be wiser to listen to Jesus, and allow him to be in charge in US all the time. Why? Well, for one thing, God sent Jesus into our lives precisely to introduce us to Gods’ power, and show us how God’s power can transform and heal us of the weaknesses we know are inside us. For another, Jesus is a leader with integrity, whose Truth is central to his mission for the Father. It’s Jesus, through God’s Holy Spirit, that gives even quiet and shy people the courage to speak up strongly, whenever someone is being treated unfairly, or being persecuted or picked on.
Not long ago, an elementary school teacher named Adele was on her lunch hour in the teachers’ lounge, quietly reading a book. Several other teachers came in and, without provocation, began to pick on Adele: one criticizing her weight, another her hair and clothing, and another making fun of her quiet nature. As this was unfolding, Adele’s food friend, another teacher named Caroline, came into the lounge and heard some of what was unfolding. She IMMEDIATELY went over and, in defense of her friend Adele, said that if they continued to pick on Adele, they would have to deal with her (Caroline) as well, and that SHE would NOT remain quiet and shy. I suggest to you that the Holy Spirit’s courage rose up in Caroline that day, responding to an injustice (persecution) being done to her friend.
The way someone responds in critical situations like the one above often says something about her or his character. When Jesus was faced with a man with an unclean spirit, there were lots of ways for Jesus to deal w him. Most people I know would say that if a person was yelling and disturbing the people at Mass, their feeling was, “just throw him or her out, and let’s get on with the Mass!” But because Jesus has the power of God in him, He has OTHER ideas and more GODLY solutions to use. By the way, that’s true for us, too: when we’re in union with God’s light, more and other options will open before us.
See what Jesus does: as the demon in the man is yelling, the demon thinks he can dilute Jesus’ power. He thinks he can distract everyone from what Jesus is about to do, which is to act with divine power. Jesus shows that GOD is in charge of this situation by doing two very specific things: 1) Jesus silences and forces the spirit out of the man, who then can STAY (rather than be thrown/forced out), and listen to God’s Word. Jesus reminds us all people – including the possessed and mentally ill people – that they are precious, made in God’s image and likeness; 2) and Jesus then gives the man some inner peace and direction, so that for the rest of his life, he can believe: he can TRUST that God’s power IS strong, on earth and in heaven. That’s what we pray, isn’t it? God’s power is NOT just for later, when we are called to eternity, but here, now, in our daily lives!
So, what have we heard today? Hopefully, that our union with Jesus our Shepherd can help us to do what’s needed to make the world, and its people, a better place, and a holy place. But that can ONLY happen if we acknowledge Jesus as being in charge inside of ALL parts and dimensions of us: that would include our words, our actions, our thoughts, our hopes and dreams, even our future plans. Yes: answering the question “Who’s in charge in You?” starts with prayer here at the Eucharist. It STRENGTHENS us like NO OTHER FOOD or EXPERIENCE on earth. And at the end of Mass, Jesus sends us back into the world with our eyes wide open, and hopefully with a heart caring for others. Only Jesus the Christ, the great liberator can do it, and only if each of us is ready and willing to allow Him to shine and reign in us. Are we? Fr. Chris