First Reading – Genesis 3:9 – 15;
Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1;
Gospel – Mark 3:20–35
God speaks to us in many ways, particularly through the Word of God. This Word is very active in our life and helps us to grow in our closeness to God. On this tenth Sunday of ordinary time, the Church reminds us that as humans, we all have an existential struggle against evil. However, the good news is that, we are illuminated through the assurance of victory. It is Christ, the seed of the Woman (Mary) who helps us to obtain this victory in our daily and earthly struggle against evil. In the Gospel reading, Jesus redefines the concept of family, stating that those who do the will of God are His brothers and sisters.
This theme emphasizes the importance of spiritual kinship and unity among believers in Christ.
The first reading is from the story of the fall of Adam and Eve. It is an integral part of our salvific history which reminds us of something that we inherited from them. That is, the Adamic nature due to Original Sin. Also, it reminds us of the consequences disobedience. Rather than accept their fault, they tried to justify themselves by blaming each other. Adam blamed: “the woman you (God) gave me.” Of course, he did not blame the woman alone, he also indirectly blamed God who generously and kindly gave him a partner. On the other hand, Eve blamed: “the serpent that tempted me.” Blame rained upon blame! As some of us do, it was hard to accept their fault. None of them said, I am sorry, I was wrong, it was my fault or even, please forgive me.
Instead, they found excuses to exonerate themselves and, someone else must take the blame. Excuses does not absolve faults.
Rather, what helps is humbly accepting one’s fault and asking for forgiveness.
Today’s Gospel narrates Jesus’ encounter with his people and family. They thought he was out of his mind. They accused him of being possessed when he was liberating the possessed. They were ready to restrain him with false charges. They wished and desired to restrain his miraculous works and powerful preaching regarding his Father. Despite all these, Jesus did not sacrifice his mission. He was so different from other prophets. He was completely caught up in doing the work of his Father and pays no attention to anything else. This looked like insanity to any of his contemporary people. Jesus perhaps was not
having enough to eat, not getting enough sleep and had already sacrificed his steady occupation. He seemed obsessed with healing people. All in all, his family decides that Jesus was out of his mind.
He told them and explained to them that every true disciple of Christ is, his brother, sister, mother and a member of his victorious family. He came to save all who are ready to do the will of God. Of course, Mary his Mother is a great model of this for all of us. Hence, Christ did not disrespect his own faithful mother. She faithfully heard the Word of God and retained it in her life. Our Lord teaches an important lesson today. That, through faith and obedience to God’s will, we all have the opportunity to become members of his victorious and happy family.
Today Christ reminds us that it is not status, but action in response to God’s call that determines who belongs to his victorious family. To become part of the victorious family of Christ is a dynamic process. It flows from a personal encounter with Christ.
It also flows from faithfulness and obedience to God’s will. Hence, if we are Disciples of Christ, we must prove it through our faith and obedience to God’s will. Jesus emphasizes that those who believe in him and all that he stands for are as close to him in particular as those who do the will of God as brother and sister and mother of Jesus’ family.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is the victim of calumny by his opponents. The scribes say that Jesus has made a pact with the devil and that it’s by the devils power that he casts out demons. Some members of his family believe at least part of this and conclude that Jesus must be crazy — especially with all his talk earlier about loving enemies, saying outrageous things, like the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. There is plenty of calumny and spoiling the reputation of people going on in our world today. Everywhere we see people, nations and institutions that seek to promote themselves unfairly at someone else’s expense. We have become so used to being manipulated by fake news and outrageous distortions that we now have a hard time recognizing the truth when we hear it, especially when that truth is difficult and requires a change in our behaviour and attitudes. Our Church teaches us to respect for the reputation of other persons and this respect forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. 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.
They throw calumny at Jesus. The Lord defends himself by asking quite logically: “How can Satan cast out Satan?” “A household divided against itself cannot stand.” The scribes think he is possessed by the devil. Jesus points out to them the absurdity of their thinking that he uses the devil to cast out demons. In fact, it is Jesus who ties up the strong man, Beelzebub, and overcomes him. Blinded as they were by this deep-rooted pride, they could see nothing good in him. Absurdly, they explained as the work of Satan the miracles he worked. To any honest mind, these miracles proved that he was, at least, a friend of God. That most of the Scribes and Pharisees continued in their blind pride even after their attempt to silence him
forever had failed, is most likely, as Jesus’ reference to the unforgivable sin would indicate. They could not be forgiven while they refused, through pride, to ask for forgiveness.
He concludes with a brief saying about the forgiveness of sins. All sin can be forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It’s not known exactly what he means by this. It could be that the only sin that can’t be forgiven is the one that cuts you off from the source of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit. This form of sin cannot be forgiven. According to 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. Six species of this sin have been identified over time as sins against the Holy Spirit such as: (1)
Despair; (2) Presumption; (3) Impenitence or a firm determination not to repent; (4) Obstinacy; (5) Resisting divine truth known to be such; and (6) Envy of another’s spiritual welfare.
But how can we reconcile these words of Jesus: “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of everlasting sin.” With our reliance on the Father’s infinite love and mercy for our salvation, such that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
For us, all of this is a call to follow the Lord, 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.