From the Pastor

The person who brought about this turnaround in the life of Paul was Jesus himself, whom Paul met on the road to Damascus. As Paul hunted down the followers of the Lord, Jesus said to him, “I am Jesus and you are persecuting me.” From this moment onwards, St. Paul would never again do anything offensive to anyone, neither Jew not Greek nor Church of God. St. Paul had come to know the Lord, who went about preaching and curing all who were sick. This Jesus of Nazareth never did anything offensive to anyone, though His opponents found much to be offended about. Today we hear of an encounter with a leper. Jesus is anxious that this cure should net be broadcast, for fear it would cause uproar. Ironically, the leper has found his place back among his own people and the Lord has been forced outside. But despite that consequence, Jesus was more than willing to heal the sick man. That is why He came – to bring true life to all people and to heal our sickness.

Our deepest hurts are the things that cause you to fight one another, our anger and our sense of injustice, our aggressiveness with one another and our violence. We are back where we started, with the advice of St. Paul: “Never do anything offensive to anyone.” These are the true sorrows of our world. How do we heal them?

It’s easy for us to be so wrapped up in our lives – the daily routine, the demands that simple existence makes upon us – that we lose sight of our true purpose and calling. Like Job, we can be left struggling with our existence, failing to find a meaning in our lives. Sickness, mental illness, stress and anxiety in particular can so consume us that our life feels like no more than “pressed service” and “hired drudgery”. But that highly charged, symbolic good deed of Jesus points away forward us: Simon’s mother-in-law is restored by Jesus’ touch not simply to health but to service. Her encounter with Jesus transforms her suffering into the freedom to serve. This Gospel truth is a lesson the disciples struggle to learn: that true greatness lies in service, for Jesus himself came not to be served but to serve. Those of us who, like Simon’s mother-in-law, are touched by Jesus are raised to serve like Him, to continue His mission of bringing healing and wholeness into our world. So many people are weighed down by burdens of suffering, trapped by external forces of oppression and poverty, or enslaved by internal compulsions and addictions. The response of Christ – of the Christian – is to do more than simply ask “Why?” We are called to engage actively, by proclaiming the nearness of God’s kingdom through lives of loving service.

It is said that the greatest victory the devil has won in our modern age is to persuade people not to believe in him. His greatest skill is to deceive people. C.S. Lewis, who wrote a brilliant book called The Screwtape Letters, made the devil into a rather humorous figure.

In the New Testament the devil is no joking matter. In the first-century Palestine, the world of the demonic was taken deadly seriously. St. Mark sees the world into which Jesus comes. It was not neutral ground but occupied by Satan. The Messiah would have to be involved in a cosmic battle with him. In today’s Gospel the battle begins as he performs an exorcism in Capernaum. Jesus goes to teach in the synagogue. The devil recognizes Jesus not as a healer but as a destroyer: “Have you come to destroy us?” Then he tries to trick Jesus into submission by using two names for Him, Jesus of Nazareth and “the Holy One of God”. But Jesus is not deceived. He casts out the unclean spirit, who violently shakes his victim and screams out in defeat.

Imagine such a scene at a Sunday Mass. What would people make of all that shouting and writhing in the sanctuary? It’s not what we expect in church. In our modern, scientific society we may be embarrassed by all this talk of demons and Satan. Modern medicine can certainly explain a great deal of the sickness and disease that we see in the Gospels. On an individual level many people are taken over by powerful addictions, such as drugs, drink or pornography. They are imprisoned. There can seem to be powers at work that are more than the sum of individual people’s evil. The good news of the Gospel is that Christ has won the victory over evil and we can share in His risen power. Evil will never have the final word. Jesus calls us to stand firm against evil and unjust behavior in this world. We do not need to be afraid, as we can know that He is with us and has won the victory over Satan and all his works.