Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “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, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
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. The Saints and the Stations of the Cross that line our walls.
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 was a holy place – a sacred space, so why is he there?
Surely, he doesn’t belong.
Or does he?
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Perhaps he was a conflicted man, both a believer and a sinner – a man who knew he was under the power of something stronger than himself.
Maybe he went to the synagogue that day praying to be set free.
And he was.
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At times, how many of us feel the same way?
We need Jesus to set us free from something: fear, laziness, jealousy, judgmental thoughts, anger, impatience, anxiety, whatever it may be.
We approach the Lord in confidence, praying that he will say those same words to us: “Come out of him! … Come out of her!”
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Jesus can do it. He will do it. Sometimes the healing work of the Spirit is instant, as it is in the Gospel.
Most often it takes time.
We need patience with ourselves – and with others – while the Lord heals us, trusting in the words of Saint Paul: “God, who has begun this good work within you, will bring it to fulfillment.”
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s Gospel passage comes at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and he’s already starting to experience both rejection and wonder from the crowds.
For these three precious and final years of his life, Jesus will go public: he’ll cure the sick, give sight to the blind, forgive sins, and even raise a few people from the dead – all things the prophet Isaiah foretold.
We might summarize his works in three words:
Jesus lifted burdens.
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It’s what every Christian is called to do.
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On this Labor Day Monday, here’s something to ponder: How does our own work or ministry reflect the life of our Lord, who lifted burdens?
I think of all who cook in our parish soup kitchen, preparing fresh pasta for the hungry in Newark. And the Missionaries of Charity who feed, clothe, and shelter them.
Those who visit our sick and homebound parishioners; who drive them to chemo and doctor’s appointments; who tidy their homes; who bring them communion; who sit and have a conversation, lifting their burden of loneliness.
Those who organize parish outings and events; who teach our children; who work on staff; who intercede on our behalf.
Here we lift burdens.
It’s what the Catholic Church does around the world – and has done since the time of our Lord.
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Following Christ’s example, how might I lift someone else’s burden today?
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Image credits: (1) KTSM 9 News (2) Christian Publishing House Blog (3) TheConsecratedWoman.com
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. —For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. — So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.
“From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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This week, most of our children will begin a new school year.
On the first day, everything is new. Children have new books, new backpacks, new clothing, new lunchboxes, newly sharpened pencils, maybe even a new laptop – all of which is meant to give them a fresh start.
But new books do not ensure new learning. A new backpack does not guarantee kids have emptied out old burdens. New clothes do not make a new student.
Although new things may provide motivation, ultimately, it’s what’s inside a student’s mind and heart that determines their success or lack thereof.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus sternly rebukes the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day.
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,” he says, “as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me.”
Jesus is not criticizing the rules they follow.
In fact, many of these laws, although man-made, were important for the preservation of the Jewish faith, culture, and identity while they were living under the oppression of the Roman Empire, whose gods and culture were vastly different from their own.
Everything from keeping the Sabbath to ritually purifying their hands was part of being Jewish.
Jesus rebukes them because it was easy to keep the body clean, without making the connection to purifying one’s heart. That is where sin and grace are found. “And their hearts,” he says, “are far from me.”
If the Jews can celebrate their religious practice without ever engaging the deepest part of themselves, then what might happen after the Lord institutes the new, eternal covenant of the Eucharist?
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For the last five weeks, we read through chapter six of John’s Gospel, commonly referred to the “Bread of Life Discourse.” There John revealed Christ’s identity as, “the living bread come down from heaven.”
Then, at the Last Supper, the disciples are given the Eucharist as the new, eternal covenant, with the command, “Do this in memory of me.”
Mark has also been building this logic in his Gospel, having already mentioned “bread” multiple times. But today he adds an interesting detail.
In the original text, the Pharisees do not ask Jesus why his disciples eat “meals” with unclean hands; rather, they ask him, “Why do your disciples eat bread with unclean hands?”
Mark is exposing the subtle tension present within Christ’s own inner circle. While most of the disciples are trying to honor the Lord, as any faithful Jew should, Judas has already begun plotting his betrayal.
At the Last Supper, he will be the one eating bread, not with unclean hands, butwith an unclean heart. As the Lord himself will say in a stunning rebuke that night, “Not all of you are clean.”
Mark uses this as a warning to all of his listeners, including us, to wash ourselves of any sin prior to approaching the table of the Lord.
In particular, he warns us against the sins which Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, malice, deceit. All of these are interpersonal sins, affecting our relationship with our neighbors, and more importantly, with God.
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Perhaps this is what the Lord is asking us to ponder this week. What state are we in spiritually as we approach the altar of the Lord and eat the “living bread come down from heaven”?
Every Sunday, we come to Mass. We sit, stand, and kneel. We can do these things externally – much like our ancestors washed their hands – without ever engaging the mind and heart.
It takes real effort and grace, in the words of Saint Augustine, “to become what we consume.”
Yet that is what the Lord desires from us: to become more and more like him.
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This week, students begin another year of school – and everything is new. New books, new backpacks, and new clothes. But none of these externals guarantee new learning. It’s what’s withinthe student that counts.
So, it is with us.
Following the Lord is not a matter of mere rules or rituals – blessing ourselves with holy water, sitting, standing, kneeling, or washing our hands. Our religious practice must seep deep into our hearts.
As James exhorts us in our second reading, “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
May we welcome Jesus, so that the Lord may live – not only on our lips – but, above all, in our hearts.
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Image credits: (1) Holy Name of Jesus (2) Camp Blue (3) AAAComputer4Christ, WordPress.com
