Mk 1: 21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and 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.”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Changing Our Course
Today’s Gospel reading strikes the modern ear as antiquated in the sense that it speaks of an “unclean spirit” that has inhabited a man. Contemporary exorcisms, while not necessarily the same phenomenon as the eviction of an “unclean spirit,” share the similarity with this Gospel of having an unwelcome spirit-guest who has influence over a person. Exorcists often emphasize that such bad company does not gain this influence without someone disposing her/himself for it. For example, they say that serious sinfulness, such as murder, opens one up to wicked powers that can meddle with human agency.
While the vast majority of us do not commit such acts and so do not open ourselves to dark powers in this way, we can draw an analogy from this phenomenon by thinking about how, in smaller and much less serious ways we open ourselves up to harmful patterns that do not involve possession by an evil spirit. We too sometimes need Jesus to confront us to change our course of action.
With regard to what sinful tendencies do we need Jesus to face up to us and call us to a radical reversal of course? How might we ask Jesus to help us reconfigure these tendencies so that we can live more fully for God?
—Timothy Perron, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province studying theology at Fordham University.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I want so much to live my life only for you. Help me to set aside anything that is not aligned with your holy and loving will. Be with me always, and confront every bad habit in me, that it may fall away so that a burning charity may replace it.
Amen.