Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching. Mk 1:21-28
Wouldn’t you like to have been in that synagogue the day that Jesus came?
The gospel says, “The people were astonished…” After expelling the unclean spirit, “All were amazed.” Astonished. Amazed. These are powerful words. And Jesus had a powerful impact on the people that day. As a result, “His fame spread everywhere.”
Wouldn’t you like to have been in that synagogue the day that Jesus came?
In a way, Jesus comes into this synagogue we call ‘church’ – in the proclamation of the word and the breaking of the bread. At other times, Jesus comes into the little synagogue of our heart as we open ourselves up his spirit. Are you astonished? Amazed?
Probably not. The question: What do we need to do to become astonished and amazed at the presence and power of God in our life?
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There is another reaction to Jesus – from the man who had the unclean spirit. He asks a revealing question: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”
The question conveys a lot about how we sometimes respond to Jesus. We live a busy life. We work. We shop. We drive here and there. We come to church. We ask, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” The ‘us’ in this case is all of the things we are doing.
If we broadly define ‘unclean spirits’ as anything in our life that separates us from the love of God and the holiness of God, there are also many in our life: bad habits, poor choices, damaged relationships, too many distractions. We ask again, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” The ‘us’ in this case is all of the things we should not be doing.
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To try to answer this question, we can look at the gospel. It is significant that the first unclean spirit Jesus expels is NOT in the pagan lands of Caesarea Philippi or in the corrupt palace of Herod. The first demon Jesus expels is in the synagogue, a holy place.
When we hear ‘holy place’, we think of Church, both our local parish and the universal church. We can also think of ‘holy place’ is that holy place within each of us, the synagogue of the heart. To bring the transforming message of Jesus to a broken world, we must first expel those unclean spirits from within that separate us from God’s holiness.
Too often, we want Jesus to do something about the unclean spirits ‘out there’. We want Jesus to do something about the behaviors of our politicians, the decisions that come from the judiciary, the scandalous material coming out of Hollywood, the religious cynicism creeping in the culture at large.
All of this is important. More important is for us to open the doors of the synagogue of our heart. Invite Jesus to come in. Permit the power of Jesus to filter out all of the distractions that keep us from God – to give Jesus the authority to expel the demons residing in our very own hearts.
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Unfortunately, we sometimes go through life feeling like nothing can change. We give up. We say: There is no way I can improve my relationship with my spouse. There is no way I can stop becoming impatient. There is no way I’ll be able to recover from this loss.´ In these situation, we limit the power of God and the authority of his anointed one.
But there is hope in the question, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”
When we ask this question, a part of us knows that our life is somewhat a kilter. Something is wrong. We may ask the question with a sigh of resignation, but there is also a part of us that hopes that maybe Jesus has the power to change this situation. Maybe Jesus can astonish us as he did in the synagogue that day.
Astonishment is a powerful word. It is not something that delights the eyes or tickles the ears. Astonishment penetrates to the core. For Jesus to ‘astonish’ there needs to be a clear path to our inmost being, to the synagogue of our heart. Jesus is not going to force his way in our lives. We have to let him in.
How do we let him in? To the man with the unclean spirit who asks, “What have you to do with us?”, Jesus speaks a one word answer. Quiet. To the legions of vices and distractions that keep us from being astonished, Jesus can speak the same word. Quiet.
It may be time to let Jesus issue the same command to all of the distractions and vices that have crept into your life. Quiet. And in the quiet, let astonishment and amazement at the power and love of God enter.