Year: 2024

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Gospel: Mark 1: 21-28

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I think of a sacred space, I think of this church. This altar. This pulpit. Our newly installed crucifix. The Saints and the Stations of the Cross that line the outer wall.

Sacred spaces are filled with holy things that point us to God.

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In today’s Gospel, there’s a man with an unclean spirit present in the synagogue. But the synagogue is a holy place, so why is he there?

Surely, he doesn’t belong.  

Or does he?

Maybe he went to the synagogue that day praying for a cure.

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Have you ever wondered who or what possessed him?

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The Gospel only tells us it was an, “unclean spirit.”

In the ancient world, many diseases and conditions which people could neither understand nor control were lumped together into the category of “unclean spirits.”

While this man could’ve been haunted by a demon, he also could’ve suffered from epilepsy; migraines; dementia; or simply an uncontrollable temper. 

Perhaps he was a conflicted man, both a believer and a sinner; a man who knew he was under the influence of something stronger than himself and he wanted to be set free.

Whatever it was, this “unclean spirit” tortured him, isolating him from others. 

That’s the real evil here.

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This becomes the first that miracle Jesus performs in Mark’s Gospel. 

Perhaps Mark uses this man as an image for all Christians. Though believers, aren’t we all in need of the healing power of Christ? 

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Like this man, we, too, can carry “unclean spirits” into sacred spaces – into church, into our marriage, into our families, into our friendships, and into our workplaces. 

In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul cautions us against falling prey to particular vices, including: laziness, immorality, impurity, hatred, jealousy, selfishness, excessive drinking, and envy. 

Even Paul says, “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but what I hate…So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

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What might be an “unclean spirit” lodged in my own heart? And in what ways might the Lord heal us?

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Consider four common ways. 

The Lord heals us in the Eucharist, which is the Promised Presence of Christ. As Pope Francis says, “the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect.” 

It’s a healing balm for the soul. 

The Lord heals us with his Word. As it’s written in the Letter to the Hebrews, “The Word of God is living and effective.” When used to mold our decisions, it becomes powerful, changing lives for the better.

The Lord heals us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, removing guilt and burdens we no longer need to carry. 

And the Lord heals us through the powerful silence of prayer.

Which of these four avenues – Eucharist, scripture, reconciliation, and prayer – am I most drawn to as a source of healing?

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“If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart,” the Psalmist says. 

Our hearts – and by extension, our lives – are sacred spaces. But like the man in today’s Gospel, sometimes “unclean spirits” take up residence within us, which often we do not seek. Rather, it’s part of our fallen nature.

The Lord stands ready to drive those things out of us. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” he says. “If anyone opens the door, I will come in.” Open that door and welcome Him in.

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Image credits: (1) Roberta Winter Institute, Why Did Jesus Heal (2) Reddit (3) Jesus Heals, YouTube

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2 Timothy 1: 1-8

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy, 
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

The Word of the Lord.

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A recent study from MIT found that the average human eye can detect a candle flame flickering in the night from over a mile and a half away. 

Imagine that. One tiny flame can break through nearly 9,000 feet of darkness. 

That is the type of power that Christians have when active in this world. We can break through dense barriers of social, emotional, and spiritual darkness.

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Consider what Saint Paul is doing for Timothy, his “spiritual son,” in our first reading.

We don’t know the precise reason why, but Timothy is struggling, both in his ministry and in his faith. 

Spreading the Gospel in the first century was hard, often dangerous, work. The fact that Paul’s writing to Timothy from prison reiterates that.

But Paul affirms him, reminding Timothy that sharing the Gospel is not only an honor and a privilege, but also a responsibility. It’s something that every Christian is called to do.

Tradition tells us that Timothy continued his priestly ministry for nearly four more decades until he himself was martyred in the year 97 AD.

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Who knows what would’ve happened had Timothy not received such encouragement from Paul. 

But that one letter was like a little flame, bringing light to a young minister’s heart when he needed it most.

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That’s something we can all do today: bring light wherever there may be darkness.

A phone call. A text. A word of affirmation. A flicker of light.

Simple things can make a difference for a few minutes, a few days, or like Paul’s Letter to Timothy, a life forever.

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Image credits: (1)The Bridge Church (2) Ignatian Solidarity Network (3) Life Palette

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Acts 22: 3-16

Paul addressed the people in these words:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’
And he said to me,
‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’
The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.’
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,
I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’
And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said,
‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,
to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.’”

The Word of the Lord.

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Someone once asked, “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

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One person who would be easy to “convict” is Saint Paul, whose conversion to Christianity we celebrate today.

His journey began with a burst of light as the Risen Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. Struck blind for three days, Paul was interiorly changed, and baptized three days later.

He’d spend the next thirty years of his life preaching the Gospel, until he was martyred in Rome.

Scholars estimate that Paul walked 10,000 miles on foot, and sailed for thousands more. He was beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and left for dead multiple times.

He wrote thirteen pastoral letters, accounting for nearly half of the New Testament, while establishing some of the first Christian communities.

Finally, from his prison cell in Rome, Paul left his parting words, which have inspired Christians for the last two-thousand years: “I have fought the good fight. I have run the race to the finish. I have kept the faith.”

And he left tons of evidence to prove it.

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Of all the things Paul did, there’s one significant part of Paul’s legacy which we can all follow today: he handed on his faith to the next generation. 

Two of his closest disciples were Timothy and Titus, whom he referred to as his spiritual sons.

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What “evidence” might there be to demonstrate my Christian faith? Like Paul, how have I handed on the faith the next generation?

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May we continue to “fight the good fight” until the Lord of glory calls us home, leaving the next generation to continue making disciples of all nations.

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Image credits: (1) Overview Bible (2) The Conversion of St. Paul, Caravaggio (3) A-Z Quotes