Hôm nay, chúng ta bắt đầu Chúa Nhật Thường Niên, và trong Chúa Nhật thứ 10 Thường Niên này, Giáo Hội nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng với tư cách là con người, tất cả chúng ta đều có một cuộc đấu tranh sống còn để chống lại sự dữ. Theo bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy rằng các luật sĩ đã phạm một tội gọi là “vu khống”, vì họ đã thốt ra những lời phạm thượng chống lại Chúa Giêsu. Vì họ đã nói: “Ông ấy bị quỷ vương Beelzebul ám” và “Ông ấy dựa vào quỷ vương mà trừ quỷ” (c. 22).
Đối với tôi, các sơ của mẹ thánh đã phạm tội phán xét hấp tấp hoặc vu khống vì ban đầu họ nghĩ rằng cô bé này là một cô bé hư hỏng hay rắc rối, nhưng cuối cùng họ phát hiện ra rằng không phải như vậy. Sách Giáo Lý Công Giáo câu 2477 dạy chúng ta phải tôn trọng danh tiếng của người khác. Sách Giáo lý dạy rằng một người phạm tội vu khống, là người có những nhận xét trái ngược với sự thật, làm tổn hại đến danh tiếng của người khác và tạo cơ hội cho những phán xét sai lầm liên quan đến họ. Sách Giáo lý cũng nói đến một tội nhẹ hơn gọi là “phán xét vội vàng” và một người phạm tội phán xét hấp tấp, thậm chí ngầm cho rằng lỗi đạo đức của người chung quang là đúng khi không có đủ cơ sở.
Bài đọc thứ hai nói với chúng ta: “Đấng đã khiến Chúa Giêsu sống lại cũng sẽ làm cho chúng ta sống lại với Chúa Giêsu và đặt chúng ta trước sự hiện diện của Người”. Đức Chúa Trời sẽ đặt chúng ta ngang hàng với Chúa Giê-su, nhưng trước tiên Ngài phải làm cho chúng ta sống lại theo hình ảnh của Ngài. Hình ảnh mà chúng ta đã đánh mất vì tội lỗi. Cuộc sống này, đối với tất cả chúng ta, là để cho Chúa tái tạo chúng ta theo hình ảnh của Ngài. Chúng ta phải kiên nhẫn. Đối với nhiều người ngày nay, cuộc sống chỉ đơn giản là tận hưởng thải mái những gì mình thích. Đối với chúng ta là những người theo Chúa Giêsu, cuộc sống của chúng ta là phải trở nên giống như Chúa Giêsu càng nhiều càng tốt để chúng ta phản chiếu vinh quang của Chúa Cha.
Today, we back in green and back in Ordinary Time, and in this 10th Sunday in ordinary time, the Church reminds us that as humans, we all have an existential struggle against evil. According to today’s Gospel, we find that the scribes were guilty of a sin called “calumny,” or slander because they uttered blasphemous words against Jesus. For they said: “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons,” (v. 22). I remember an inspiring story about Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta and I think some of you may have heard about this story.
Saint Mother Teresa asked her sisters to follow the little girl wherever she went. The little girl ran away again. But the sisters followed her and discovered that the little girl stay with a homeless woman who lived under a tree on a city street. Mother Teresa went and witnessed the joy of the little girl with a woman. She asked the little girl, “Why did you not want to stay with us? You had so many beautiful things at the children’s home.” The little girl politely replied, “I could not live without my mother. She loves me.”
For me the sisters were guilty of rash judgment or calumny because, they thought that this little girl was a bad and trouble girl in the first place, but at the end they find out she was not. Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph no. 2477 teaches us to respect the reputation of other persons. The Catechism states a person becomes guilty of calumny, who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. The Catechism also speaks of a lesser sin called “rash judgment” and a person becomes guilty of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor.
It appears quite clear that the scribes in the gospel reading were gravely guilty of these two sins. We too are guilty of these two great sins of calumny and rash judgment. Like for example, when we encounter a person with dirty clothes and long hair, we immediately say: “You look like a rebel or you look like a bad guy.” So, we are guilty of these sins too.
If we were the object of such harshness from another, it would most likely make us be overwhelmed with shock, hurt, anger and confusion. It’s very difficult to remain indifferent to such an attack. But what did Jesus do to the scribes? He addressed their condemnation and then pointed out that what they spoke was a “sin against the Holy Spirit.” This form of sin cannot be forgiven. According the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin against the Holy Spirit is the “deliberate refusal” to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness (no. 1864) and therefore cannot be forgiven.
The readings today tell us that, Sin comes into the world by not listening to God but listening to another. Sin creates conflict in the world and it will never end until we choose to follow the Lord Jesus. It is the Lord Jesus who can remake us in the image of God and restore to us the loving relationship with God. The devil is never as powerful as the Lord Jesus and His Spirit. It is Jesus Himself who invites us to follow him and to be His family.
The first reading today, sets forth the experience of sin that began our later experiences of sin. Sin is contagious is so many ways. So often we blame sin on others instead of accepting our own responsibilities.
The second reading tells us: “the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us in his presence.” God will place us with Jesus, but first He must remake us in His image, which we have lost through sin. This life, for all of us, is a matter of allowing God to remake us in His own image. We must be patient. For many people today, life is simply about enjoying as much as we can. For us who follow Jesus, life is about becoming as much as possible like Jesus so that we reflect the glory of the Father.
The Gospel today shows us that Jesus completely frustrated with what had happened in the temple. We can understand that the family of Jesus does not understand Him. Jesus is so different! Jesus is completely caught up in doing the work of His Father and pays no attention to anything else. This looks like insanity to any normal person. Jesus is not getting enough to eat. He probably is not getting enough sleep. He seems obsessed with healing people. All in all, his family decides that Jesus has lost His mind.
So, Jesus irritates and bothers his family. With the Scribes and Pharisees, it is worse. Jesus seems to understand the Law that is completely different from theirs. They want to challenge Jesus but recognize how popular Jesus is among the ordinary people. They think that Jesus is possessed by the devil but again fear saying anything like that.
For us, all of this is a call to follow the Lord Jesus, not matter what our families or other religious people think about us. We are challenged to do the works of God, to recognize that the fight between good and evil is still going on in our own time. We must also recognize that it is God who is at work and so we can trust that we are being remade in the image of God.
Jesus spoke these words to the crowds who had gathered around His home in Capernaum because two groups of people had just spoken very critically of Him in a public way. First, some of His extended family arrived and said to everyone, “He is out of his mind.” And then some of the scribes from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul.” Thus, Jesus states clearly that their blasphemy is a sin against the Holy Spirit and will have everlasting consequences.
Why is it that certain sins will never be forgiven? What exactly is a sin against the Holy Spirit? Traditionally, our Church has identified this sin in a couple of ways. First, it is a sin of final impenitence, that is, the sin of obstinately persisting in grave sin. Obstinacy, or the refusal to repent, is a sin that cannot be forgiven, simply because the person committing it never seeks forgiveness. They become so entrenched in their sin that they refuse to change. Thus, the mercy of God is incapable of entering into them. Second, it has also been identified as presumption, meaning a person sins while expecting God to forgive. Presumption is more subtle; however, it also has the effect of keeping a person from the sincere repentance that is needed for forgiveness. The presumptuous person never fully repents and amends their life as long as they remain in their sin.
Of all the many sins you struggle with or might struggle with in the future, pay special attention to the sins against the Holy Spirit. Though we should never think we have a right to God’s forgiveness, we must always believe that God’s mercy is so great that the moment we humbly acknowledge our sin and sincerely repent of it, God will forgive. But the key is “sincerity.” In order to be forgiven, the repentance within us must be sincere, authentic, real and complete. We cannot fool God. We can certainly fool ourselves, but not God.
One of the best ways to regularly be certain that you are not guilty of any sin against the Holy Spirit is by going to the Sacrament of Confession and confessing your sins with openness, thoroughness and humility. Own your sin. Acknowledge it. Experience sorrow for it. Resolve to change. Then confess it and trust in God’s mercy.
Reflect, today, upon any way that you lack sincerity and thoroughness in your repentance from sin. Are you honest with yourself about the sins you have committed? Have you taken ownership of those sins? If so, have you also confessed them to God and firmly resolved never to commit them again? Take repentance seriously so that you never even begin to fall down the slippery slope that leads to any sin against the Holy Spirit.
Most merciful Lord, You offer forgiveness to all who come to You with humility and sincere sorrow. Please fill me with these virtues and give me the resolve to change as I open myself to Your unfathomable mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, all good things come from you. You invite me to share in your goodness and the blessedness of your divine life. Help me to resist the temptations of the devil and attain eternal happiness with you.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Accusation of the Jerusalem Scribes: The Gospel of Mark, in chapters 2 and 3, narrates the growing conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities. The Galilean scribes accused Jesus of committing blasphemy when he claimed to forgive sins (Mark 2:7). The Galilean Pharisees questioned Jesus’ disciples about him eating with tax collectors and public sinners (Mark 2:16). The people were concerned that Jesus’ disciples did not fast like the disciples of John the Baptist and those of the Pharisees (Mark 2:18). The Galilean Pharisees also accused Jesus’ disciples and Jesus himself of breaking the Sabbath rest (Mark 2:24; 3:2). This culminated in the Pharisees and Herodians plotting Jesus’ death (Mark 3:6). In response, Jesus withdrew to the sea and countryside (Mark 3:7) and appointed the twelve as the apostles and leaders of the New Israel. Our Gospel passage begins with Jesus returning home after his withdrawal, to the house of Simon Peter and Andrew in Capernaum. Instead of Jesus’ relatives from Nazareth going to Capernaum to welcome him and celebrate all that he had done, they set out for Capernaum and tried to seize him since they thought he was “out of his mind.” Similarly, instead of the scribes from Jerusalem praising God for the miracles and mighty works Jesus has done, they criticized Jesus and accused him of working with the devil. Now, the scribes from Jerusalem had more authority than the Galilean Pharisees. It seems that the Galilean Pharisees had not only plotted Jesus’ death with the Herodians but also sent word to Jerusalem about the actions and teachings of Jesus. The solution to the problem of Jesus, according to the scribes from Jerusalem, was to explain the miracles and great works of Jesus as being diabolical in nature. They started to say to the people that Jesus was possessed by an unclean spirit and that he was only able to cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons.
2. Jesus’ Response: Jesus summons the Jerusalem scribes, confronts them, and responds to their accusations. He starts by pointing out the flaw in their logic and does so using some parables or comparisons. He asks them to think about a kingdom. Would a king, who rules over his kingdom, start a revolt against his own rule and destroy his own kingdom? Would the head of a house start a revolt against himself and destroy his own house? If not, then why would Satan, the prince of demons, wage war against the other subordinate demons and destroy his own kingdom of darkness? Why would Satan empower Jesus to destroy Satan’s dominion? The scribes, it seems, were reduced to silence. Jesus then uses a second comparison to teach the Jerusalem scribes how he is casting out demons. He compares Satan to a strong man who is selfishly guarding the people he possesses. Jesus points out that to free the people in bondage, you first need to tie up the strong man, Satan. This is exactly what Jesus is doing through his exorcisms and healings. He is destroying the domain of evil and the devil. He is binding the strong man, plundering his house, and releasing those who were held in bondage. After revealing to the Jerusalem scribes the flaw in their argument and outlining what he is doing through his exorcisms, Jesus then warns the scribes that they are hardening their hearts (Mark 3:5). They are so blind that they are calling evil what is good and calling diabolical what is divine. They are knocking at the door of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. They are in danger of refusing to repent from their sins and are closing themselves to the forgiveness God is offering through his Son, Jesus Christ. “Mark explicitly connects this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit with the scribes’ accusation. Jesus is not declaring that the scribes have committed the everlasting sin, but is warning them of the grave peril they are in, unless they open their hearts to the Spirit and repent” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 78). The silent response of the scribes is telling. Mark then turns his attention to the family of Jesus who arrived from Nazareth to Capernaum to seize him. Instead of going to the door to greet his mother and his cousins, Jesus uses the opportunity to teach those who are seated around him about the new family he is forming: Whoever does the will of God is the brother and sister and mother of Jesus. Being a member of the new family of God is not based on descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is based on faith in Jesus, heeding the will of God, and unity through the bond of Christian love.
3. The Devil and the First Family: The First Reading, from Genesis 3, was chosen in connection with the Gospel for two reasons. First, it mentions the ancient serpent, the devil, and how the devil tempted Adam and Eve to sin and rebel against God. The same serpent is tempting the Jerusalem scribes in the Gospel to rebel against God’s Son. The temptation presented to Adam and Eve was not about knowing or recognizing good and evil. It was about desiring to be the one who decides what is good and evil. It is the temptation to be like God but without God (Cavins, Morrow, Rocha, Swafford, A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, 118). The scribes from Jerusalem are falling into the same sin. Instead of recognizing the good Jesus is doing, they are determining for themselves what is good and evil. They think Jesus is breaking their traditions and interpretations of the Law of Moses, and, therefore, Jesus must be in league with the devil and must be put to death. Second, the First Reading mentions the first family, our first parents, Adam and Eve. Due to the sin of Adam and Eve, the human family has been marked and wounded by original sin. When God curses the serpent, he foretells how the serpent’s offspring will continue to strike at the heel of humanity, while the offspring of Eve will crush the head of the serpent. Jesus is the offspring, the seed, of the woman who heals the wound of original sin, defeats the devil, and reverses the curse brought about by sin. “This ‘New Adam” and long-awaited savior will enter a garden and sweat blood, taking on himself the curse and sin of the first Adam, and his suffering and death on the wood of a tree will transform that wood into the new Tree of Life. Jesus’ faithfulness to God his Father and his rejection of Satan’s lies, even to death, show the way that the first Adam, and all the sons of Adam, were and are to walk” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 22).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have crushed the head of the ancient serpent through your life, passion, death, and resurrection. Teach me to avoid the deadly bite of the serpent and overcome sin in my life.
Living the Word of God: Am I open to Christ’s teaching? Am I ever like Jesus’ relatives and think he is “out of his mind”? Are there any of the Church’s teachings that I resist or disagree with? How can I better conform my thinking to the mind of Christ and his Church?
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