Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Mark 9: 14-29

As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them.
Immediately on seeing him,
the whole crowd was utterly amazed.
They ran up to him and greeted him. 
He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Someone from the crowd answered him,
“Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit.
Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down;
he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid.
I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.”
He said to them in reply,
“O faithless generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” 
They brought the boy to him.
And when he saw him,
the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around   
and foam at the mouth. 
Then he questioned his father,
“How long has this been happening to him?” 
He replied, “Since childhood.
It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”
Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering,
rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it,
“Mute and deaf spirit, I command you:
come out of him and never enter him again!”
Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out.
He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!”
But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mahatma Gandhi, who was considered by many to be one of one the leading religious and moral voices of the 20^th century, was intrigued by Christianity and wanted to know more about it.

One Sunday morning, he approached a church in Calcutta, India, but was turned away by the ushers at the door. “This church,” they said, “is for whites and high-caste Indians only.”

Gandhi was neither.

Walking away, he said, “If it weren’t for Christians, I’d be a Christian.”

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In today’s Gospel, a man is searching for Jesus, because he believes that Christ has the power to cast out an unclean spirit from his son.

But cannot find the Lord. Jesus is away on a high mountain, praying with three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John.

The other nine disciples are left at the foot of the mountain to speak and act on the Lord’s behalf. So, they try casting out the unclean spirit from the boy, but are unable to do so.

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What makes this story shocking is the fact that the disciples have already cast out unclean spirits; earlier in the Gospel, Jesus sent them out on mission and they were successful.

But now, it seems, they’ve lost their power. And worse, their poor example drains this man’s faith.

By the time Jesus arrives, this father doesn’t say, “Lord, I believe you can help us!” But, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us.”

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Much like the ushers who rejected Gandhi from entering the church – physically and spiritually, the disciples prevented this man from deepening his faith in Jesus.

Both stories remind us that all Christians are ambassadors for Christ. 

Whether it’s something small like welcoming a stranger, or something larger like casting out an unclean spirit, much of what we do either leads others closer to or further away from Christ. 

May we lead them closer to God today.

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Image credits: (1) GoalCast (2) Transfiguration, Raphael (3) Jack Hayford Ministries

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Gospel: Matthew 5: 38-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand over your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go for two miles. 
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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If you’ve ever played a video game, then you know there’s always a series of levels. The first level is the easiest and the final level is the hardest. 

It may take multiple attempts, but if you succeed in beating the final level, then you’ve mastered the game.

If Christianity were likened to a video game, then today’s Gospel reveals the final level:

“Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.”

How wonderful in thought… how impossible in action. But if you can do this, then you’ve mastered Christianity.

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This may be the most difficult Gospel to preach on because of its realistic – and often very painful – application to our daily lives.

Think about what’s happened in Syria and Turkey. Building contractors cut corners for years, lowering the standards on building inspections in order to make a little extra profit. Now more than 46,000 people are dead.

Some of those buildings – if built to code – would not have collapsed. While justice is necessary, the Lord also teaches us to love and forgive those contractors who valued profit over human life. 

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But, what exactly does it mean to “love” them? Or to “love” anyone who’s hurt us?

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The Greeks had four different words for “love.”

There’s family love, the type that a parent feels for a child. 

Passionate love, the type that one spouse feels for another.

Affectionate love, the type that one feels for a friend. It’s from this Greek word, philia, that we get the name, Philadelphia, also known as, “the city of brotherly love.”

Then there’s agape, which means, “unconquerable benevolence; invincible goodwill.” It’s the highest form of love, which we share within our community. We are people of good will. 

This is the love that Jesus commands us to have towards others, even our enemies. 

It is not the sacrificial love that a parent has for a child; not the warm and fuzzy love that one spouse has for another; not the affectionate love we’d have for our closest friend. 

It’s an unrelenting commitment to the well-being of others. Even when it hurts, we want what is best for them.

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In the context of our “enemies,” agape love seeks rehabilitation, instead of revenge; healing, instead of punishment. 

Think of someone who’s living with an alcoholic spouse. Agape love prays for that person –for healing, sobriety, and restoration so that the relationship can continue. You cannot hate someone whom you pray for because prayer is an act of the heart.

Agape love leads us to patiently collaborate with hostile or angry co-workers, instead of further isolating them. It inspires us to befriend someone with opposing views or a different faith from our own.

It leads us to do whatever it takes for the sake of repentance; conversion; healing; the restoration of a relationship.

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Think of what Jesus did the day he entered the Temple in Jerusalem.

He saw the greedy practices of the money changers. So, he grabbed a whip, lashed it at them and turned their tables over.

How could Jesus turn tables over and still love the people standing behind them?

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He had an agape love for them. 

In that moment, his love for them was neither affectionate, nor warm and fuzzy. He loathed the corrupt practices they were involved in; those moneychangers were profiting off of their religion, selling pigeons to pilgrims. 

Jesus pointed out their sinful behavior so that they might repent and restore their relationship with God and their neighbor.

As we heard in our first reading, “You may have to reprove your fellow citizen, but take no revenge and cherish no grudge.”

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The moneychangers weren’t much different from the building contractors in Syria and Turkey, who looked for ways to make an extra buck, even at another person’s expense.

Still, Jesus “loved” them, prayed for them, and wanted them to repent, because he always held room in his heart for those who did.

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This is the final level of Christianity:

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Desire only their good. Keep room for them in your heart.

Then you will be, “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

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Image credits: (1) Christianity.com (2) Thirsty Deer, WordPress (3) Redbubble

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Gospel: Mark 8: 27-33

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
 
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” 

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In this tiny Gospel passage, Peter experiences the highest high … and the lowest low.

One moment he boldly proclaims that Jesus is the “Christ.”

The next, Jesus turns around and calls him, “Satan.”

Why such a dramatic change?

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Peter’s confession of faith stirred a desire in Jesus to share more of his divine plan with his disciples. He is not the political savior that the disciples secretly hoped he’d be. Rather, “the Son of Man must suffer greatly… and be killed,” he tells them.

Peter’s dreams of glory are being shattered right in front of him. He has already left his home, his family, and his job in order to follow Jesus. And now it seems it’s all ending in death.

The fame, the power, and the prestige were a pipe dream. Dumbfounded, Peter says to Jesus, “That cannot be!”

In trying to prevent God’s divine will from unfolding, Peter becomes like Satan – an obstacle; a stumbling block.

So, Jesus corrects Peter, telling him to, “get behind” him. This gesture of standing behind Jesus implies that, even when Peter doesn’t understand, he must learn how to follow.

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At times we all shriek from accepting God’s will. We protest. Or stand in the way.

A malignant diagnosis, a closed door, a winding path we never thought we’d walk may, in fact, be where the Lord is leading us… but like Peter we don’t always understand… and we certainly don’t want to accept it.

What Peter will learn after the resurrection is something we all must – that God’s path, although difficult at times, leads to life in abundance. Think of the empty tomb.

Or that great prophecy from Isaiah: “I will lead the blind on their journey. By paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them and make crooked ways straight.”

The challenge is learning how to be like Peter, how to “get behind” Jesus and follow him.

What might that look like for me today?

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Image credits: (1) The Archdiocese of Malta, February 16 (2) Twitter, James Martin, SJ (3) National Catholic Register