St. John the Baptist Catholic Church

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Scripture: Dt 18: 15 – 20, Ps 95, 1Cor. 7: 32 – 35, Mk 1: 21 – 28

“I know who you are-the Holy One of God!” “Quiet! Come out of him!”

“If today, you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart!”

Paul recommends adherence to the Lord without distraction, which is part of the call of each prophet as the Book of Deuteronomy presents to us, “But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.” Jesus is the perfect prophet for being Himself the Word of God. Nothing stands between him and God his Father. Jesus was announced by Moses whose prophecy is thus fulfilled (he is therefore a true prophet of the Eternal God – there is no doubt that the Jewish religion is a true religion established by God for universal salvation). It is important that the words of a prophet should come true. Yet it is only the Spirit of God, the Spirit that worked through John the Baptist, that can make someone recognize in Jesus of Nazareth, the Prophet God tells Moses, ” I will raise up [one] like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.” (Dt 18: 18).

Question: What prevents us from developing a powerful/life-giving relationship with God?

Answer: Dividedness is the cause according to St. Paul; and Paul is anchored in the life of Jesus Christ. What is then the cause of our dividedness? It is 1) Orphaned knowledge, 2) Idolatrous relationships, 3) Excessive fear of suffering, 4) Intentional manipulation of Reality or the rule of lies.

The very first Law is clearly articulated and broadly known: 1) Pay attention! 2) Nothing and nobody can replace the living God! 3) This is the only way to Life! (Dt. 6:4, Mk 12: 29 transliterated). The four Scripture-based identified causes contradict this truth (that God alone is Lord), by the exclusion of God.

First, the orphaned knowledge is the sin of the angels who became demons in the pre-human moment of time. They know the truth of God’s beauty, goodness and power. They saw God face to face, yet they rebelled (we see that vision is no guarantee of obedience higher than faith). For humans, many people dedicate their lives to various fields of knowledge and come up with sound and relevant results for human flourishing. For argument’s sake we may consider unfortunate that we are not all advanced scientists; but I cannot think of any serious self-reflective science that has real competence to define authoritatively the existence or non-existence of God, other than one mentally created –  just as Aaron and some of the people did in the desert of their homecoming to the promised land. A scientist needs to define a “God” to the measure of his mind, then search for it, and get a response according to the degree of his folly. Knowledge is always partial, tentative and open to more wonders. Knowledge has an application and that application should be for life-enhancement, even in its most indirect form. In our gospel-story, the demons through their victim, exhibit great and profound knowledge of the ways of God. The truth is that they resent it: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

“Talk about what you believe and you have disunity. Talk about who you believe in and you have unity.”-quote. How many among us ask themselves before decisions, “How would Jesus react to this?” “What does Jesus teach about this?” “Where do I find that teaching of Jesus?” Yet many spouses and lovers wait to know the opinion of the other person before taking any commitment (light or serious), so much they care for their happiness. That is how we know that somebody counts in our lives. Does Jesus, the Voice of God, count in your life? “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart!”

A comedian shares his story like this:

In conversation with a person I had recently met, I asked, “Are you Protestant or Catholic?” My new acquaintance replied, “Protestant.” I said, “Me too! What franchise?” He answered, “Baptist.” “Me too!” I said. “Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” “Northern Baptist,” he replied. “Me too!” I shouted.  We continued to go back and forth. Finally I asked, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879 or Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?” He replied, “Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council 1912.” I said, “Die heretic!”

To the hardened heart, nothing is good enough to help him see God; nothing is close enough to make us one in Christ, (for Christian denominations, and even non-denominations). In fact, if it is not for reasons of denominations that we split, it would be for other kinds of preferences (it is sad to see that many people desperately “need” to be miserable, and to see others miserable as well). Soon as we have made of any particular manifestation the essence-of-God-subordinated-to-human-needs, we have made an idol; we have made an option for death. The truth is that the life of the other person is already the glory of God, even before he or she comes to confess with his/her lips, Christ as Lord, or to register in our party, or to simply praise what we do, or do what we praise. “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart!”

The living God has never been – and God will never be a destroyer of his creatures, with due respect to the laws of the universe, His laws. For the hard-at-heart, God should stay far; God should never intervene in human affairs, lest he infringes on our dear freedom. God should never come close (Jesus should not come to his village Capernaum). This is precisely what happened in the time of Moses, and God promises to send a divine prophet less threatening than Moses was perceived to be, because of some wrathful divine operations and Moses’ own shining face (Ex. 34: 30), yet a prophet much like Moses. This prophet, though humble and approachable, faces rejection by the “powers of division,” the powers of the split in the soul. If we called upon International peace-builders to share, they would eventually tell us endless stories of warlords, allergic to peace-talks and disarmament. Yet we all know that powerlessness comes from dividedness either in soul or in society. How do we now understand the “new teaching with authority” that we find in Jesus? May we hear the Word of God’s tri-unity and unconditional acceptance of humanity as the “Power” of Jesus! Moreover, if you happen to hear, please, “harden not your heart!”

Secondly, idolatrous relationships are very common. Since we need precisely unity in order to be strong, we cling to those who provide that space where we feel stronger and well connected, and we “worship” them in a sense. I do not know how many studies about passion crimes have been conducted, and how much people commonly endure, because of attachment to other human beings, who actually cannot fulfill their genuine needs to be loved, respected and known. Non-spiritual “man or woman is anxious about how he or she may please the wife or husband,” and they easily get distracted for lesser focus. God’s voice affirms matrimony as sacrament of service agreeable to God.

Thirdly, excessive fear of suffering: “Let us not again hear the voice of the Lord, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.” The purifying love of God, the trimming edge of the Word is not welcome for it affects us for change and for good. We want our comfort, our little tranquility in mediocrity. Suffering is “holy ground” when faced with the heart of Jesus Christ. However, the unclean spirits would not allow the purifying fire of divine love to make us whole. Some among us here told me that the current economic crisis would help us know the essentials in our life; that it will force us to discern with greater accuracy our needs from our wants. It appears thus to be a purifying evil that nobody really wishes – not even to a forgiven enemy. Since it is not very helpful to use many words about the mystery of suffering, we can simply pray for God’s Spirit to make of our suffering a redemptive experience, and help us to understand. “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart!”

Fourth and lastly, manipulation of reality when we speak words that do not come from our heart, speaking words that “were not commanded us by the Lord” (according to Deuteronomy); speaking words with a different spirit. That form of dividedness, again, according to the word leads to death. We know that this “un-cleanliness” is destructive because the unclean spirits of our gospel story are concerned about destruction. Either we live free from them (if we know them at all) or they will surely destroy us. Nothing, nobody that is good can possibly be afraid of Jesus Christ who is friend even with sinners and people of low social respect. What will be your conclusion after asking, “What is this?” and after noticing that “he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him”; after hearing of the fame of this Jesus from Galilee, what will be your footnote to his work in the book of life? “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart!”

Faith is about feeling, knowing and acting, accepting and remaining grateful with others. Do we not take from common wisdom the advice to “marry someone only when we discover how lucky we are for meeting him or her”? True life begins with wonder and gratitude. Life is a Eucharist! The Eucharist is the healing power of God available to us who believe in him whom God raised from the dead. The giver of a spouse is not really outside of the family; therefore, we cannot cling to the gift as though the Giver did not exist any longer. There is always a “trinity” of God-Wife-Husband, which opens up to children and friends and relatives in a loving embrace. Faith is recognizing the gift requested from God when it comes.  Faith consists of carrying an authority that frees; an authority that liberates others to be more of them-selves, to be the best they could be in this world. We come every Sunday or everyday to rediscover this saving truth in the Eucharist, the refreshing life of Christ, gratitude to God in human labor and joy of all those who understand. “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your heart; be Eucharist for others!” May God heal us from dividedness and fear in the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ!