Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Deut 18.15-20;  

I Cor 7.32-35;  

Mk 1.21-28

GOD’S AUTHORITY OVER OUR LIVES

In our Lord's day, exorcists were two a penny. Anyone who could pass himself off as a healer or exorcist did just that. Faith-healers were part of daily entertainment in the market-place. Such attempted healings were also quite a performance, a performance with all the trappings of ritual magic, special formulae and elaborate ceremonies. Against this background, Christ's effortless authority was impressively contrasted. Unlike the shamans of His day, He needed no ritual incantations.  With a simple command, He frees the sufferer from the evil spirit.  "Be silent. Come out of him!"  It was this effortless control over the supernatural sphere which astonished the crowds.  He was clearly on a far superior level from the demon He cast out.  His amazing powers marked Him out as one Who came from a different world.  He had authority of a new and irresistible kind.  Even the unclean spirits obey Him.

Perhaps to us today, it does not seem so extraordinary.  We are accustomed to the teaching that Jesus is the Son of God. We know that in Christ the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily.  But the crowds that witnessed the exorcism recounted in today's gospel did not have this faith.  They did not have the benefit of the Catechism.  To their untutored eyes and ears, the one they saw casting out demons was simply a man among men, one just like themselves.  This is why they were astonished.  They did not expect to see divinity in action, divinity in Person.

Our Blessed Lord did not work His miracles simply for the sake of doing good.  Doubtless, His Sacred Heart was moved to compassion by the plight of the sufferers.  But that was not His chief motive.  His chief purpose was His work of revelation.  He had come down to earth to reveal the truth about God's kingdom, that is, God's kingship, His kingly sway over all creation.  He had come to teach humanity that God was their one and only King.  In His own body, His speech, His gestures, in every aspect of His being, Jesus was the living proof of God's royal dominion.  One way that He proved this was by showing that the powers of evil no longer had the upper hand.  A masterful new authority had stepped in, and was taking charge.  Even the evil spirits have to obey.  Only God could do such things. 

The coming of Christ signalled the downfall of the empire of evil. Until the incarnation, evil had ruled the roost.  Now, divine authority was challenging those dark forces; not only challenging them, but actually forcing them into submission. The King had declared war on evil, a war which reached its climax on Calvary.  The Cross was the greatest confrontation between the Almighty and Satan, His most rebellious subject.  That confrontation was followed by glorious triumph - the resurrection of the Lord.  At the resurrection, the evil one was routed.  However, that rout was not quite the end of the war. The war has continued, and continues to this day.

What we experience in our own lives as temptation and sin are in fact the final skirmishes of the war.  The main battle has already been won.  But the enemy, although defeated, is still trying to lessen his defeat.  He is still trying to claw back some of the trophies won by Christ, the countless souls redeemed by the passion and death of the Saviour.  Satan will try every trick in his book to snatch us back.  Fortunately, we know that Satan's tricks are nothing more than a pathetic rearguard action.  He can't possibly win in the end.  His rebellion is ultimately hopeless.  Sadly, he still manages to lure some people to join the rebellion, even as temporary recruits.  

The healing miracles in the gospels are wonderful proof of God's royal victory over the rebellion.  But what of today? Where are the miracles today? We know that many remarkable physical cures do still occur.  There's plenty of proof of that at many pilgrimage sites, and many other places.  And there is also another sphere where the Son of God is still issuing His word of command and casting out demons.  Where else, but in the three great sacraments of restoration; Baptism, Confession and the Anointing of the Sick. In baptism, the devil's fatal grip is dissolved; the chain of original sin is broken.   An important part of the rite of baptism is the prayer of exorcism.  This is especially crucial when the one to be baptised has previously adhered to a pagan cult.  At the other end of life, the Sacrament of the Sick for those dying and gravely ill gives a final healing absolution in preparation for our journey into eternity.  In between those two moments, the sacrament of penance restores the grace of our baptism, grace that was temporarily blotted out by our foolish adherence to the rebel cause.

In these three sacraments of healing, the Master continues to perform His miracles of exorcism.  In confession, the miracle is offered again and again. With a simple word of command, the world's true King puts forth His healing power and banishes the evil from our souls.  "I absolve you from your sins..."   These words  restore us to new life, and once again we take our place on the side of angels