Homily for the Week of February 1, 2009

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2009
Ps 95:1-2,6-91 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28

For most of us the first years of our life have been controlled by our school -- sometimes even more than from our parents and family. By the end of high school a student has been in a classroom over 14,000 hours, and will have had about 50 different teachers. Much of who we are and who we are to be is influenced by these teachers and by the school.

Often Jesus is referred to as the Teacher. In the Gospel I just read: “The people were astonished at his teaching.” At the time of Jesus there were no schools, no colleges, no universities. Children learned from their parents who had learned from their parents. Usually people turned to special individuals who were believed to have special knowledge. Often they would seek out the tallest and strongest man in their midst and placed upon him the responsibility of making their decisions for them. Saul and David were such persons in the Old Testament. They often trusted these persons blindly. At times they believed that these persons were gods.

For the Jews, the synagogue was the place where most learning took place. In Jesus’ time an educated man could teach in the synagogue. But often others were invited to teach. On this particular day Jesus was a visitor to the synagogue. He was invited to read the Bible and then to talk a little about what he had just read. Unlike a lot of others Jesus was different, He taught, not what he had heard from other teachers, but a different message. His listeners could tell that he believed what he was talking about. They were all astonished at what he was saying.
While Jesus was teaching, a person with an unclean spirit came up to Jesus. The unclean spirit means a man who is possessed by the devil, a man who is controlled by evil. Unclean spirits were one of the most common problems that Jesus encountered. They are still one of the most common problems we have to deal with today. It is someone who is unclean in their thoughts and language. This man spoke to Jesus and Jesus drove out the unclean spirit.

It is amazing that it is the devil that introduces Jesus to the crowd in the synagogue. Which tells us that all of us can produce goodness from bad once we want to do something about it.
Jesus’ classroom and his school was the outdoors, the lakeside, the shopping mall, the synagogue, the pasture -- in fact, he taught wherever he was. He was such a good teacher that many came to learn from him, and as a result they changed their lives. We are told today that "the people were spellbound by his teaching." Jesus believed what he taught; he taught what he believed; and he practiced what he taught.

Everybody understood Jesus. He talked plainly. He talked about things that affected people. Jesus’ teaching was simple. He taught love and how to love. We need to love, he would tell people who were hurting. Since we are all created by God, then we are created out of love. God always loves us. Regardless of the evil that might be found in someone or in our society, Jesus could find some good in each person. In fact God is Love.

Jesus taught our need to forgive even to forgive our enemies. Before Jesus came it was normal for people to love their neighbor but to hate their enemies. Jesus changed this around by teaching: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU.

It may be difficult for us to accept the teachings of Jesus on love and on evil and goodness,. This picture of Jesus is hard in a society that does not have time for pain; a world of rapid Internet information, a world where war and violence are acceptable means to peace. The teachings of Jesus on love and evil are hard to accept in a society where so many say there is no such thing as evil. Evil is old fashion. We do not need to pay attention to temptation and sin. What does it matter if we lie a little, cheat a little, sound off a little, avoid our duties, eat or drink too much, skip church, forget to pray,

We are so good at sugar coating sins. We refer to stealing as shoplifting, to adultery as fooling around, to abortion as terminating a pregnancy, to pornography as adult entertainment. All of us who are old enough to commit sin know that there is an unclean spirit in all of us. Sin creeps in, beginning by our giving in to it a little, and before we know it, it has possessed us. And then it is easy for us to excuse ourselves by telling ourselves that it really does not matter, or everyone is doing it, or no one will find out, or I’m just being human. By all these excuses we deaden our conscience.

And once controlled by evil, we begin to feel that evil is more powerful than good. But that does not have to be. I hope that all of you prayed out load the response to our psalm today: IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. We do good and avoid evil by listening to the voice of God in our conscience. IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. How do we hear the voice of God? By listening to our conscience. And making a daily examination of our conscience. And being forgiven through the sacrament of Confession.

Paul tells us today: ''Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties.'' Unfortunately we are rarely free of anxieties of one type or another. Whether it is over a child using bad judgement, an announcement from the doctor that he found a suspicious lump, anxiety over the house note, worry over an ageing parent, anxiety about being able financially to retire, or any other worry, it seems that there will always be something to create anxiety in our lives.
We can will free ourselves of unclean spirits and anxieties if we have a good, prayerful relationship with God. Let us do our best this week to do just that. .