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A good Sunday to all.

The life of the Prophets was not easy. Let's think about the conflicts and difficulties they faced: Elijah, Jeremiah, Amos, or even the prophets of our time, Mazzolari, Milani, and Tonino. The words of those sent from God to communicate to their brothers the thoughts and will of the Lord. are always disturbing and full of passion for the cause of God. Let us remember what Ecclesiasticus says about Elijah: 'His word burned like fire,' so it is no wonder those disturbed by this provocative language, by his denunciations, also react violently. Those who are on the side of the lie attack the prophet when they hate the truth announced by them in the name of God.

The prophets always take this hostility into account from the moment they begin to carry out their mission. However, another opposition is more painful for the prophet, and it comes from those who are more hostile to him, from whom they would expect support, encouragement, and help. This is what has happened to so many prophets of our Church, who have met with opposition from their brethren of faith as subversive or even suspected of heresy.

This is what happened to the great theologians and biblical scholars before the Council, such as Chenu, De Lubac, and Congar, and all of them were suspended from teaching precisely because of these suspicions, because of these denunciations of their own brethren; then they were rehabilitated, and those theologians later gave us the conciliar documents. Chenu, one of these theologians, said it is very painful when one suffers for the Church when they are the enemies of the Church. those who attack you, those who oppose the truths proclaimed by the ecclesial community, but it is much more painful when the suffering comes from your brothers in the faith. There is also a play on words in French: to suffer 'pour l'église' or 'par l'église' = 'to suffer for the Church or on behalf of the church.'

This second suffering is much stronger. But there is a third misunderstanding, even more painful for the prophet; it comes from the members of his own family, from those who love him but do not understand his choices or proposals; they do not accept his message. Jesus underwent all these painful experiences of misunderstanding. Today, we are presented with precisely the most painful one, the one that came from the members of his own family. Let's listen to what happened:

 

"Jesus came home with his disciples. Again, the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat.”

 

Jesus lived in Nazareth with his mother and relatives until he was 34. He led a very similar social and religious life to that of the Israelites of his time; he worked as a carpenter and participated in his people's feasts and events. He faced the problems and difficulties of all. But one day, he decided to start a new life, went to the River Jordan, and was baptized by John. Then he changed his residence and settled in Capernaum, in a house by the lake, owned by Peter and Andrew, who later became his disciples. In Capernaum, he was immediately well-received; he healed the sick, and this made him famous. If he had limited himself to healings, he would not have aroused any opposition; everyone would have loved him. But, at a certain point, he began to preach in the synagogues to announce his beatitudes, his proposal of a new world, a provocative, shocking message. Then the hostilities began.

Today's Gospel passage presents him sitting in a house, surrounded by people listening to him. These people are becoming passionate about his gospel; a new community is forming inside this house. However, many people in Capernaum are interested in Jesus's healing but not his Gospel, so they prefer to stay outside. They have understood that the Gospel challenges many convictions and life choices; it disturbs consciences, demands conversion of mind and heart, and whoever is unwilling to make these changes remains outside the house.

The first to realize the danger of Jesus' preaching are the spiritual leaders of Israel, the scribes, and the Pharisees. In fact, before the episode that is reported today, Mark narrated five confrontations, five very hard disputes that Jesus had with scribes and Pharisees who challenged him because he announced the forgiveness of sins without having to resort to the prescribed rites of tradition; then he spoke of a God who loves all, the bad and the good, without distinction. This was heresy. They reproached him for the scandalous behavior of sitting at a table with publicans and sinners, not practicing fasting, and neglecting the obligation of the sabbath rest. Finally, they charged him with a more serious transgression, that of having cured the sick on the Sabbath.

For the rabbis, the observance of the Sabbath, as of the whole Torah, was above everything else; it was superior to everything else. For Jesus, love for man was superior to everything else. The Torah was at the service of man, not vice versa. At this point, the evangelist Mark points out that the Pharisees and the Herodians immediately understood that the Torah was the service of man, not vice versa. what they had to do because they were facing a dangerous personage, so they took advice, together with the Herodian sympathizers of Herod Antipas, and decided to put him out of the way.

A division was created in Capernaum. Some entered the house and enthusiastically embraced the new doctrine. that Jesus taught with authority, a word that expels from the heart the unclean spirits: envy, hatred, evil thoughts, fears of God, and moral corruption. These are the demons that the word of God purifies from the hearts. Others, on the other hand, have set themselves against it because they want everything to remain as before; they have no interest in being purified by the word of the Gospel.

The life of Jesus in Capernaum becomes complicated, and the news that things are beginning to go wrong for Jesus reaches Nazareth. Let's listen to his family's reaction when they discover what is happening:

 

"When his relatives heard of this, they set out to seize him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’”

 

The family had every reason to be concerned. Jesus is getting into very delicate matters; he is classed among the religious and political power holders. That's why the family members concluded he was crazy and getting into trouble. And what do they do? We are among Semites in the Middle East, where we know that the family bond is very strong, and when a family member is in trouble or danger, all family members feel called and obliged to intervene. This is when Jesus' little clan gathers and decides to go down to Capernaum to pick him up and bring him home.

The Greek verb used is κρατῆσαι - ktatesai, which means 'to catch him,' not to let him escape.' Behind me, you can see mid-19th-century Nazareth. The town of Jesus' time must not have been very different from what you see. Look even over my head at Mount Tabor. So, the group leaves, most likely under the leadership of one of the family, and it would have to be the head of the family. who takes charge of the situation, but since Joseph is no longer there, it must have been the older brother.

We are surprised, perhaps, by the presence of Mary in this group that has left, but like all the others, she is also concerned about her son's position and concludes that he must have gone mad. Let's pause for a moment on this woman's spiritual journey. To become perfectly attuned to the Gospel of her son, she also had to make a journey of faith that was not very different from ours. She was educated like Joseph according to the catechesis preached by the rabbis in the synagogues and by her grandparents and parents in all the homes; she was educated like all the children of Abraham. She had been taught from childhood to observe traditions faithfully.

Luke recalls that Mary and Joseph immediately brought Jesus to the temple precisely to fulfill what the tradition prescribed; they went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. The family in which Jesus grew up is traditionalist, but when Jesus began his public life, he questioned all these traditions. Even Mary was surprised and had to convert to the newness of the Gospel. It is not that Mary understood everything immediately; Luke recalls it at the beginning of the Gospel; when the shepherds speak, they refer to what they saw, and the evangelist says that Joseph and Mary did not understand what the shepherds said. Then, when Simeon speaks to them, the evangelist again points out that they do not understand what Simeon is saying. Therefore, we understand the prophecy that Simeon addressed Mary: "And you, a sword shall pierce your soul.” The sword is the word of the Gospel, which divided the people of Israel and also divided Mary's heart.

The family's difficulties in understanding Jesus invite us to reflect. Let's observe that they are good people, not against Jesus, as the scribes and Pharisees. They are his friends and love him, yet they do not understand him; they think he is out of his mind. This is what happens to many Christians today. They are people who are committed in the parish, zealous catechists, but then when they are confronted with certain explanations of the Gospel that go in-depth, and about these explanations they had never reflected, and they realize that they question their convictions; they begin to think, 'This is crazy,' 'these are heresies.' And what do they do? They do exactly what these family members have done: They want to return Jesus to his former position.

These Christians are worried that certain interpretations of the Gospel take them too far, and therefore, they try to bring it back to the safe traditions, which are in tune with our criteria, logic, and common sense, and what goes beyond that is madness. Peter is a typical example of these zealous Christians who love Jesus and, precisely out of love, suggest to him to make reasonable decisions and not to follow the madness of going to Jerusalem. Jesus said to Peter, 'You are the incarnation of Satan.' Church history is full of these zealous Christians, in love with Christ, who unwittingly oppose the Gospel. Let us think of those Christians who have pronounced themselves against the decisions of the Council, considering them as a deviation from the holy tradition, or of those Christians who have considered heretical those prophets who had understood the Gospel earlier and better than others.

As long as we limit ourselves to recommending being good, suggesting some devotional practice, urging to participate in the Sunday celebration... up to this point, nobody takes us for fools, but if we begin to say that Jesus came to the world to announce the Gospel, the beautiful and great news that is the unconditional love of God for each one of his sons and daughters, even if they are evil; if we say that the Father in heaven does not punish, he does not send to hell those who have done evil in life, the reaction of many Christians is immediate, who say: 'You are crazy.' Yes, it is the madness of those infinitely in love with man. Or when we say that one cannot be a disciple of Christ if one does not renounce all one's possessions, that is, if one does not put all his possessions at the service of his brothers and sisters in need, what do many Christians say? They say, 'You're crazy; the money is mine; I go to church, but let's leave aside these economic questions of sharing the goods.'

As this small group of relatives goes down to Capernaum, Mark introduces a new dispute of Jesus with the scribes. Let us listen:

 

"The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, ‘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 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 the 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.’"

 

These scribes do not say that Jesus has gone mad; on the contrary, he is too lucid, he is a demoniac, a heretic; he indeed does healing, but he does it because Beelzebul, the prince of demons, incites him. What do these scribes say? Let us try to simplify a little. For some centuries, there had been a widespread belief in Israel that all the evil in the world was caused by diabolical powers, and at the head of the militia of darkness was Beelzebul, under whose dependencies acted the other demons that obeyed his orders and incited people to do evil. The demons were nothing other than the personification of all those impulses which, if we do not control them, lead us to dehumanizing actions, to do evil. Well, Jesus adapted himself to the mentality and the language of his time to respond to these scribes, and he refers, like everyone else, to these two forces that confront each other, the angelic and the diabolical, those of light and those of darkness, those of life and those of death.

And Jesus says: Suppose it is true what they say that I cast out demons in league with Satan; but this is not possible because Satan incites all demons to do evil; then, if he incites me to do good, it means that I am not possessed because Satan would be fighting against himself, against his objectives. It means that Satan is in disarray, and it means that the kingdom of God that I proclaim is about to begin. Then he continues his speech, introducing the image of a duel between two wrestlers; one is strong, but the other is stronger. Satan, the force of evil - Jesus says - is undoubtedly strong; he seems invincible, and even in the first letter of John in chapter 5 says that the whole world is in the power of the evil one, and also Satan when he tempts Jesus he says to him, 'I have in my hands all the kingdoms of the world, and I can give them to you, but you must obey me.’

Evil seems to dominate unchallenged. This is true; in fact, we often hear that all the elections of men are always dictated by these demons: arrogance, envy, craving for power, and lust. Jesus says: 'In reality, the kingdom of evil has come to an end because a stronger one has come.' We must remember this truth often because otherwise, we run the danger of believing that evil is invincible, and then we share the disconsolate expression of the author of Psalm 53 when he says, 'All have gone astray, all are corrupt, and no one behaves well, not even one.' This also seems true at specific historical points; the danger is to conclude with mantras that perhaps we often repeat: 'There is nothing more to be done,' 'it will always get worse,' no; this is the gloomy statement and resigned surrender to evil. No, says Jesus, defeat has come for Satan. for the Spirit, the divine life I have brought into the world is infinitely stronger than evil.

After his defense, Jesus solemnly affirms, "All sins will be forgiven except blasphemy against the Spirit.” What does that mean? God forgives all sins, but not in the way we think; that is to say, it is not that he renounces to make us pay for it if we ask for forgiveness. God doesn't understand forgiveness this way: if we do not ask for forgiveness, he will punish us. For God to forgive sin means to bring back to the path of life that son or daughter of his who is astray, unhappy, and ruining his or her life.

This is the announcement that should fill us with joy. All sins - Jesus says - will be forgiven, God will conquer, that is, he will lead all to salvation, but he warns against the danger of not allowing oneself to be forgiven, that is, of not allowing the Spirit to act in us. If we expel his Spirit from our hearts, then the forces of evil will act on us, and we remain slaves of sin. As long as we remain in this position of rejection of the Spirit, God cannot forgive us or bring us out of the condition of death into which we have gotten ourselves by our own fault.

The evangelist Mark introduced this controversy with the scribes to allow Jesus' relatives to come to Capernaum, and in fact, they are now coming. Let us hear:

 

"His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.’ But he said to them in reply, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’"

 

Now, Mark places two differentiated and separated groups that are also physically different before us. One is inside the house, and the other is outside; they belong to two families. Those who are outside are the members of the natural family of Jesus; there is the mother; there are the brothers who came down from Nazareth; they are all Israelites, children of Abraham; they belong to the chosen people. Inside the house is Jesus, and around him is a new family made up of members who are not bound by blood ties but by the fact that they hear the word of the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus and adhere to it. What do those who are outside do? They wish Jesus would come out and rejoin what they believed in: their one true family. One senses the bewilderment of these family members, who don't seem to comprehend that Jesus initiated the Christian community; he did not repudiate the family into which he was born, but now he wants to become part of the new family, which is characterized by listening and adhering to his word.

At this point, Mark refers to Israel, the place where Jesus was born, rather than the relatives of Nazareth. And the Messiah came out of this town; the mother of Jesus is Israel. Now, this mother Israel must realize that she cannot keep Jesus to herself; she must become aware of the newness willed by God. A new family has been born, the Christian community, in which Israel is also called to enter. And now Mark invites us to contemplate a marvelous look of Jesus that is addressed directly to us; he says, "directing his gaze to those around him" ... in Greek is περιβλεψάμενος - periblepsámenos, precisely turning his gaze, he turns to the face and the eyes of each one of us because he wants to know If we listen to his word and give him our adhesion, only then will we belong to his new family.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.