Monday, January 27, 2003
3rd Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Heb 9:15, 24-28
Gospel: Mk 3:22-30

The teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul: the chief of the demons helps him to drive out demons."

Jesus called them to him and began teaching them by means of stories or parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a nation is divided by civil war, that nation cannot stand. If a family divides itself into groups, that family will not survive. In the same way, if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he will not stand; he is finished. No one can break into the house of the Strong one in order to plunder his goods, unless he first ties up the Strong one. Then indeed, he can plunder his house.

"Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind, even insults to God, however numerous. But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven: he carries the guilt of his sin forever."

This was their sin when they said, "He has an evil spirit in him."

Gospel Commentary

In a sense, from what we have seen in the previous days of Jesus' way of doing things, one should not be surprised that his family thought that he had gone mad and the Pharisees claimed that he was possessed by the evil spirit of Beelzebul. He was living the insecure life of an itinerant preacher, instead of holding on to a good steady job in Nazareth. He had gathered a strange group of men around him, and had welcomed even stranger dinner companions, most of whom were not the kind of people decent Jews associated. He was on a collision course with the powerful religious leaders of his time, challenging them, making mortal enemies. He had thrown away security, safety, and reputation. According to the world's standards, he certainly seemed insane, possessed-or at least, as Gerard O Collins, the Australian theologian has suggested, something of a clown. Which suggests that if there is too much sanity in our lives, if all is too safe and secure, balanced and moderate, perhaps we are not truly following the Lord.

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