Sunday 9th of June 2024 - The Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Genesis 3:9-15/ Psalm 129(130)/ 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1/ Mark 3:20-35

When considering the bible and the various books that it contains it can be tempting to discard the Old Testament books in favour of the New. After all the New Testament books are all about Jesus and the founding of his church making the Old Testament books appear irrelevant or superseded in some way. This is a shame and precludes our fuller understanding of the relationship between God, creation and us down the ages. The Bible as a complete work is the way in which God communicates with us and has done in every age since humanity became aware of itself and of God.

The first reading today comes from the first book of the bible, Genisis, which means beginning. It is not known when this was first written but the account appears out of the ancient history of the Jewish people. It is a beautiful and important book. It is not a history or science book but in the best tradition of story telling it portrays creation, the relationship between, God and humanity, and the emergence and influence of evil in a way that can be understood by anyone throughout history.

In the passage today we get to the heart of the emergence of evil, the feeling of guilt and what it does to us, the human trait of falling into temptation with the willingness to pass our blame on to others at the first opportunity. It is important to understand that this ancient story is not about our remote ancestors without meaning for us. Adam and Eve represent all humanity, the serpent represents evil which seeks always to undermine and destroy the perfection of creation. It tells us that evil comes from somewhere or someone other than us and God. It is a real danger to our relationship with God and with others. We know it exists and we feel the shame that engaging with evil creates within us.

In the story God could be found walking through his creation in harmony with it and with the people he had created to live there. An outside influence, something other than God and external to the man and woman upset this harmony. God immediately knew something was wrong, the man felt naked in the presence of God because he felt guilt. The man was quick to pass the blame from himself onto the woman who in turn blamed the serpent. It is no different today, we feel the guilt of wrongdoing, we often seek to blame others for tempting us away from what we know to be right. The evil that drives this wrongdoing does not originate from nowhere or even within us. There is an outside influence at work, and we know that this comes from the fallen angel Lucifer, the one we call the devil. Society today tries to deny this evil influence and seeks to hide its guilt behind the fig leaves of self-righteousness and the blaming of others for things that go wrong. The greatest triumph of the evil one is the denial by the world that he exists. This gives evil a free reign over humanity which blunders along unaware of the influence evil is having on it. We see the evidence everywhere, wars, conflict, abuse of others, the killing of our young in the womb and the encouragement for our old and sick to dispatch themselves with societies assistance. All these things make for an uneasy and guilt laden relationship with God who is the definition of love, good and righteousness. When we die and face God on a personal level it will be useless to blame others or the influence of evil. We will feel the nakedness of our own failings in the presence of the sheer goodness of God. We do not want to feel that we should run from God and hide but that we should run to him for consolation and forgiveness. It will be easier to do this if we are ready to acknowledge where we have given into the temptations of evil rather than trying to shift our blame or attempt to justify our actions.

In the Gospel we find Jesus being doubted even by his own family relations referred to as his brothers and sisters. Jesus is accused of acting on behalf of the evil one, a serious accusation and Jesus explained that such an accusation amounts to a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit who is the driver in his mission. To refer to God the Holy Spirit and the works he carries out to be from the devil would indeed be a very serious accusation. So serious that Jesus suggests that it would be a sin that would not be forgiven. Fortunately, as is so often the case, sin is committed out of ignorance of the truth and can be readily forgiven by the grace of God. A sin committed in full knowledge and without any desire of forgiveness cannot be forgiven because the forgiveness would not be desired. God would not impose forgiveness on a soul who did not want or seek it.

One of the points being made in this gospel passage is that there are no limits to what evil can achieve even to the extent that the works of God can be seen by humanity as being from the evil one. Jesus challenges this thought process by pointing out that a kingdom divided amongst itself cannot stand. It is vital that we do not become divided amongst ourselves. There has already been too much division within what is known as Christianity, serving to cause argument and dissent. There will be lively debate within any organisation, and this will include the Church. While debate is useful and often healthy, we must remain aware of the presence of evil and not fall to the temptation it holds out for us as it seeks to sow conflict and division.

We are the family of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, we must seek always to keep the unity of this family intact and safe from the wiles of the evil one. We must take responsibility for our own failings without seeking to blame others. We need to be aware of and be ready to counter the very real temptations that are put in our path by the evil one, the devil. The evil that is ranged against the goodness of God is real and exists amongst us. The means of defeating it has been achieved by Jesus through his death and resurrection, but we must respond to that, feel the nakedness of our guilt in God’s presence, and seek his forgiveness which is so readily available to us.

God Bless Brendan