……… St Thomas Aquinas – Pray For Us!
The Power Of The Spirit of God
Introduction
Once for all Jesus offered himself, and there came the new covenant, the new and permanent union of life and love with God. Once and for all, never to be repeated.
It is strange and really sounds like ill will when the Scribes ascribe the good that Jesus does, especially that he drives out demons, to the power of Satan, the prince of demons. Should they not have recognized that God’s Spirit was working in Jesus? In messianic times the Jews expected the Spirit of God to overcome the spirits of evil, and in Jesus the good Spirit was visibly active. We too have to make our option between God’s Spirit and the spirits of evil that make us sin. If we hear the word of God and act accordingly, we let God’s Spirit overcome evil in and around us.
1 Reading: Hebrews 9:15, 24-28
Christ is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place
for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands,
a copy of the true one, but heaven itself,
that he might now appear before God on our behalf.
Not that he might offer himself repeatedly,
as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary
with blood that is not his own;
if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly
from the foundation of the world.
But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages
to take away sin by his sacrifice.
Just as it is appointed that human beings die once,
and after this the judgment, so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
R. (1a) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,
“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and
“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
“How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Commentary
What is the sin against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven? It is nowhere specified in the New Testament. The context will have to give us the key. Therein the opponents of Jesus maintain that he does good by the power of evil. The sin then would be to call light darkness or good evil. Since all sins can be forgiven, the dictum about this sin places it in the category of being most serious.
It was one thing for persons who followed Jesus to find his teaching unacceptable and walk with him no more. It was quite another to accuse him of being an instrument of evil. Jesus states clearly that if such were the case it would mean that he and Satan were working against each other. Satan then would have a divided kingdom, and his efforts would be lost.
Hebrews once more carries us aloft. Christ has dealt effectively with evil. He died once for all sins ever committed. Unlike the high priest of a former day, he does not need to offer atonement with animal blood year after year. But coming as he did, he offered himself once in atonement for sinful humanity. Now there remains only his return to bring to glory all those who have been justified.
Unfortunately, in our days there is little discussion given to the question of sin. We tend to treat it as a matter of little consequence. Yet we have all found ourselves shipwrecked, or at least close to it, in the course of our lives. By acknowledging sin, we can put it behind us, fully aware that we are forgiven.
We live in the company of our heavenly high priest. We have every reason to be grateful to the God who has never left us.
Blessing
A country or a family or a community that is divided cannot stand. We should all be led by the same Spirit. That does not mean that we all have to be the same like clones, for the Spirit is rich enough with his variety of gifts. May God pour out his good Spirit on us and bless us, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!