Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today we hear that some of the followers, family and friends of Jesus think that he might have gone crazy. That he has simply gone too far with his mission work.

Some of the Jewish leaders react strongly to Jesus' healings and exorcisms and they oppose him with fury. How could Jesus have the power and authority to release people from Satan? They assumed that he had to be in league with Satan. Beelzebul is an Aramaic word meaning Lord of the Flies or in effect Satan the Prince of death.

So Jesus clearly states that no kingdom divided against itself can survive for long. The idea of Satan working against himself is nonsense. If Satan uses his power against his own forces then he is finished.

Notice that he doesn’t deny that Satan does in fact have a kingdom. But explains that his power and authority comes from God.

Then we have the story of a thief breaking into another man’s house and having to restrain him first before being able to steal anything. This is a strange story from Jesus because here the strongman is in fact Satan and Jesus is the thief.

Here Jesus is explaining to the scribes that in order for him to steal back the souls from Satan he needs to first restrain Satan who has made his home in some people and that’s why he is carrying out these exorcisms on people. He wants every human soul back again.

Jesus then says that that all sins can be forgiven – not some but all except one only. Those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit are guilty of an eternal sin. What does this mean? Well actually this sin is twofold in its nature.

·        It means those who turn away from God and refuse to repent

·        And those who attribute Gods work to Satan and so worship him.

In other words it means if someone dies having seen the incredible works of God but deny them and even worse attribute them to the Devil. Those who refuse to accept and respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and change accordingly.

Remember the parable of the wedding when the King asks the man how he got in without wearing the appropriate wedding garment? That person wanted to join in the celebration yet refused to accept the king’s gentle suggestions and put himself out in any way. It’s an obstinate refusal to change!

The scribes who were accusing Jesus of using Satan’s power to deliver people had become so hard of heart that they were now totally spiritually blind. They were now refusing the very redemption that God wanted to offer them through the person of Jesus.

Saint John Paul the second famously said that the worst sin of our times is the fact that people have totally lost any sense of sin. It’s the radical refusal not to be converted and repent in any way. To refuse to accept that they may be wrong and to change whilst they have time.

Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we fill the voids in our life with? We must fill them with God who is the source of all that is good, true, and life-giving for us. If we leave them vacant or to fill them with something else, we will end up being in a worse state. Jesus gives us hope and time to change!

In the last section of the Gospel Jesus is not disrespecting his family and Mother which is a Protestant perspective on this. They use this passage to explain why we shouldn’t honour Mary because Jesus clearly didn’t.

But that is to misunderstand. Jesus as a good Jew followed closely the commandment of honour thy Mother and Father. But he is emphasising the importance of the centrality of God. That even family ties are less important.

The first reading reminds us of the battle that exists between the woman and the snake. Between Mary and the devil. The exorcisms of Jesus are of course a fulfilment of this prophesy.

Ultimately Jesus is telling us that all sins we commit can be forgiven. What is more important is our disposition of heart. To see evil for what it really is and so to change accordingly.

So let us open our hearts to see the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives and use the time that God has given us to act upon them.