This past January 1, 2024, Archbishop Leo issued his first pastoral letter as Archbishop of Toronto. It is entitled, “Seeking the Kingdom of God Above and Beyond All Other Things.” In this beautiful letter, the Archbishop speaks of the life of discipleship that you and I are called to as baptized members of the Church of Toronto. He states that “the spiritual and social renewal of our lives and community requires that we deepen our understanding of and appreciation for the Church’s perennial teachings of our faith and let ourselves be challenged and formed by the Words of Christ which are eternal and forever life-giving” (page 2). This is necessary because “[m]any of our contemporaries, most regrettably, have lost a living sense of the faith and have distanced themselves from the Lord and his Church” (page 3). In the face of this situation, we are called to “more boldly proclaim and witness to the truths of his (Christ’s) Gospel. [For] Pope Francis reminds us that to evangelize is to make the Kingdom of God present in our world” (page 3).
Archbishop Leo identified as Kingdom realities that we are called to advance the following: Truth and life, holiness and grace, and justice, love and peace (page 15). While speaking of the many positive signs of life in the Archdiocese in regards to these Kingdom realities, the Archbishop also pointed to some of the challenges of advancing the spread of the Kingdom that need to be addressed. He reminds us that as disciples of Christ, we can “never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope” (page 10). As disciples of Christ, we are called to speak and act as participants in the Church’s effort to build the Kingdom here on earth. The importance of speaking and acting in this great mission, which was entrusted to the Church by Christ, is at the heart of this Sunday’s readings.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, as we begin to journey with Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, we hear how Jesus went to the synagogue in Capernaum with His disciples as He began His public ministry. In the synagogue, Jesus astounds those who have gathered with His teaching. However, what is perhaps the most surprising feature of His visit to the synagogue in Capernaum is the fact that it is an evil spirit that is the first to acknowledge who Jesus is. We hear this unclean spirit crying out as it is encountered by Jesus: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). Immediately, after the unclean spirit acknowledges who Jesus is, Jesus says to the unclean spirit: “Be quiet, and come out of him.” Mark tells us that in response to what Jesus says to the unclean spirit, immediately “the unclean spirit, convulsing the man and crying with a loud voice, came out of him” (Mark 1: 26).
What has always struck me about the unclean spirits that encounter Jesus in the scriptures is that they always acknowledge who He is and do what He tells them to do immediately. The reason why this strikes me as strange is that so many Christians, who acknowledge who Jesus is, often find it so difficult to do what He invites them to do as His disciples.
Think about it!
In today’s Gospel, an unclean spirit publicly acknowledges who Jesus is and immediately does exactly what Jesus commands. How often do we who are Christian do the same?
If an unclean spirit can acknowledge Jesus as the Holy one of God in the synagogue, where to do so could lead to condemnation, should we as Christians not also be willing to acknowledge Jesus as God in our own actions? The Jews taught that only God was Holy and that there could be no human form of God. Despite this, the unclean spirit proclaims Jesus to be the Holy One of God in the heart of the Jewish synagogue. If the unclean spirit can acknowledge Jesus as the Holy One of God, are not you and I, as Christians, also called to do the same in our interactions with others.
So often, we fear speaking about our faith when we are at work or with friends. When we hear of certain unjust situations, we may fail to speak about the Gospel values that we are called to witness to as Christians. In the face of racism, we are called to speak about the dignity that belongs to every human being created in the image and likeness of God. When we hear about people expressing that abortion is acceptable, we are called to witness that all life has value from the moment of conception. So too, when people speak about euthanasia as an acceptable way to treat illness, we as Christians should be calling for more access to quality palliative care for those who are suffering and inviting others to understand that all life is sacred and to be treasured until the moment of natural death. Many people have come to believe that their subjective opinions have the same value as Gospel values or the teaching of the Church. Part of the reason for this is that so few Christians dare to speak up when it is time to proclaim those Gospel values. Those of us who claim to be Christian are called to have the courage to speak out about the identity of Christ and His teachings with at least the same boldness as those evil spirits in the Gospels that did not hesitate to witness to Jesus’ identity. It seems to me that if an evil spirit is bolder in proclaiming who Christ is than a Christian, there is something wrong with that Christian’s faith.
What is also unusual about the evil spirits that we encounter in the Gospels is that they not only acknowledge who Jesus is, they also do what He tells them to do. This evil spirit that Jesus encountered in the synagogue in Capernaum leaves the man as soon as Christ commands it to do so.
How many of us do what Christ asks us to do as soon as He asks?
I love to take time to consider if and when I will follow Christ. It is not uncommon to hear even very spiritual people saying that they are “praying” about what Jesus has called them to do. In other cases of our lives, we can often come up with excuses or reasons as to why what Christ asks of His disciples may not actually apply to us. It can be that we think what Jesus said about a challenging or difficult teaching was only meant for “His other disciples”—not for us today.
There are so many reasons why each of us might dismiss what Christ invites us to do each day. We can think that His teaching really was only intended for the people of His time. We can give ourselves a pass because we are more educated than they were. Maybe the fact that we have a job and need to meet certain worldly obligations can be a reason for us to give ourselves a pass on certain teachings of Christ. There are so many reasons why each of us might harden our own hearts and not listen to the voice of God as it speaks to us each day.
No matter what the reasons I might choose for deciding not to witness to Christ, or not doing the things that Jesus calls me to do today, there is one challenge that today’s Gospel puts before me. This challenge is this: If the evil spirits listened to Jesus, and did what He asked of them, how can anyone who claims to be a Christian not do at least the very same?
The Psalm Response proclaims this Sunday: “O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts.” This is a bold invitation to listen to God’s voice and dare to do what He asks of each of us. It is an invitation to the Christian to act at least as carefully to Christ as the evil spirit did in today’s Gospel. The Christian is called to listen to God’s voice, witness to it, and act upon it.
There are all sorts of things in our lives that might prevent us from listening to God’s voice. Often the things that prevent us from hearing God’s voice are the things that speak to us in our own heart and minds. We may fear what others think if we witness to Christ. It is possible that our worldly concerns might exert greater influence on the course of action that we choose. Sadly, we may be more concerned about pleasing others than pleasing God. This is one of the things that St. Paul is warning against in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Corinthians. He is warning people about how difficult it can be to serve God if we are concerned more about serving other people or things. His advice for one who wishes to be a disciple is: put God first.
Significantly, when Archbishop Leo speaks about how we are to discern when to act and speak, he refers to a meditation from the second week of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. In the second week of the Exercises, Loyola “proposes a meditation that focuses our attention on the call of the temporal King, that is, of a king of this world who helps us grow in the understanding of the Call of the eternal King, with his methods and his lifestyle that the person must learn and make his own. We are invited to ask for the grace (in each one of the spiritual exercises there is a grace to ask for) not to be deaf to the call but rather ready to do the will of God” (page 14). In this same exercise, a person is asked to follow either the voice of Christ or Satan. The point of this Sunday’s Gospel is to remind us that if even the demons followed the voice of Jesus, even more so should we who claim to be the disciples of Jesus today.
This weekend, as we hear how the evil spirit acknowledged Christ as the “Holy One of God,” and did as He commanded, we can ask ourselves if we do the same. Surely, no less can be expected of a Christian than was done by an evil spirit. As we hear God’s voice this week, let us pray for the grace to act on the words of this week’s responsorial psalm: “O that today you would listen to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts.”
I pray that you all continue to be safe and well. Please keep me in your prayers.
Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor, St. Peter’s Church—Toronto, Ontario
This reflection based on the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time—Year B: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28; and Archbishop Leo’s Seeking the Kingdom of God Above and Beyond All Other Things.
