I know who you are, the Holy One of God

 

How in our place and time can we relate to what’s going on in this Gospel?    Talking about evil or demons either is a little out of our experience much less comfort zone. Mark’s account of the exorcism in the temple on the Sabbath in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-28 ), makes us a little uncomfortable and maybe our need to explain what cannot be explained is troubling.  

Yet there is something about this reading that compels us beyond the narrative. We get a sense of immediacy and a bias for action that characterizes Jesus’ behavior. He is in control and taking charge of business. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Did Jesus purposefully wait for the Sabbath to enter the synagogue to teach? If so, this act alone established his authority. And isn’t it ironic that the one who knows who Jesus is, is the man with the unclean spirit: .Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany are behind us and the Lenten season is in two weeks, followed by an “early” Easter.  Ordinary time as the Lectionary calls it, is anything but “ordinary” and not just a place-holder for Lent and the Easter season. Jesus wasn’t just waiting and checking off the boxes as he went about his ministry. Jesus, we are told, "is on fire" and came as scripture reminds us “to set the world on fire.” He is taking on the evil of the world that of all places resides in the synagogue, a place of worship. He is shaking up a religion based on rules and proclaiming a faith based on love…he preaches on the Sabbath and heals a man possessed… all of which will “purposely”(?) incite the temple authorities who exploit religion and will eventually call for his arrest. No, ordinary time is a time of an awakening, a transformation into a new realm of living and faith.  

In many ways, this past year was one of self-imposed seclusion for me. 2023 was a time of waiting for what I hoped would be an all-clear signal sounding a return to some semblance of "normalcy.” In many ways it was a transformative period during which waiting yielded to acceptance. The calendar pages turned and the seasons passed, oblivious to the goings on in the world. Yet at ground level, just as in the time of Jesus, the days, weeks and months were turbulent and far from “ordinary.”  2023 was hardly a place-holder for 2024 and based on world current events, January is unimpressed by its new “address,” making us realize how little the calendar has to do with the passage of time in eternity. And what does time have to do with "eternity." So no time is ordinary and what we call as normal is merely part of our journey. In a few weeks we will be focusing on the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, culminating in his passion, crucifixion and resurrection. We would all agree that Jesus' time on earth was anything but ordinary but like 2023, it was certainly transformed the world forever.  

Now back to exorcisms and evil and how this relates to us today in the here and now. Our epiphany calls us to see something in a way we never saw before. It sets the stage for personal transformation, in which our eyes are opened to a new understanding. In Gerald May’s Dark Night of the Soul, he talks about "Mystery and Freedom." We become comfortable with things we can’t explain when we are comfortable in the knowledge that we don’t have to explain them and we allow the words to speak to us for what they mean and what they say. Sometimes transformation requires that we enter a dark period, outside our comfort zones before we are able to see things "in a new way." We must be rid of those demons that disrupt our journey. We must open our hearts and actively listen. Yes, demons and evil exist and we must wait to hear "Be silent, and come out of him!"