4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, year ’B’
Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, and at once on the Sabbath he went into the synagogue and began to teach. And his teaching made a deep impression on them, because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority.“We discover the way Jesus acts and we want to understand him on a deep level so as to enter into his mystery. Jesus’ action reveals us to ourselves, it calls us to become aware of our path, of the way we consider things, and especially concerning ourselves. Our way of seeing and understanding reality that surrounds us is marked by our way of being, of the conception we have about ourselves, that is, in function of our past and our experiences. All this is in our subconscience but as sonn as these forces of oppositon that are within ourselves come into play, in ourselves and in others,these will reveal what we are. These forces of opposition can really make it impossible for us to have access to the work of Jesus. Jesus is in the synagogue of Caphernaum, he teaches with authority. In the assembly there is a man tormented by an evil sprit who begins to cry out : ’What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?’ This man’s cry, under the deceitful one’s hold, expresses huanity’s cry in the hold of a world of iniquity, one that doesn’t recognise its lack of freedom any more. The spiritual combat in which we are engaged is a very hard one, but there is a light glowing on the horizon, with Jesus, the Saviour of the world.” And at once in their synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit, and he shouted, ’What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are : the Holy One of God.“But Jesus rebuked it, saying, ’Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him.”
’ A man tormented by an evil spirit." This is the situation of a normal person in the world, of any person. Each one of us is tormented by an evil spirit that is drowsing in our existence and that is master of it. More often than not, it has a
hold on us by something little, but when someone stronger than us comes it can be born again straight away. On the other hand, the Lord’s action consists in giving the person back to himself in giving him back the power to act out of his own freedom. And so Jesus will be able to adress this freedom that has been recently liberated for a real union with him. This man who is tormented by an evil spirit cries out : ’ What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?’ It is in the plural, as if there is a complicity between this man and the evil spirit that makes him say ’us’. The two are confused! This is how the slavery of this man is maintained. Who is speaking? The evil spirit?The man enslaved by this evil spirit? The violence that is expressed, expresses the difficulty of identity and makes it manifest : ’The bad spirit shook him with violence and came out of him shouting loudly.’
“The people were so astonished that they started asking one another what it all meant, saying, ’ Here is a teaching that is new, and with authoruity behind it : he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him.”
We are called in this life not to judge other people too quickly, but to take time to receive them as Jesus, to understand what they are living, so as to accomplish this word that is adressed to us through what we are living. The Way Jesus proposes is really the true Way through which I become available so as to genuinely respond to him . The depth of humanity’s slavery is so great that we really do need a Saviour. Jesus is this Saviour among his brothers who calls forth this man moved by the deceitful one : ’ Silence, come out of this man.’ Jesus brings light into this man, he has the freedom of Love to come to him. In following Jesus, we pray for the liberation of the world, we want to hear what is said so that we can journey, with the capacities God gives to us and which we freely make use of. We know the greatness and beauty of our baptism. We have been pulled out from the world of iniquity in which we were living.Like Moses who intercedes on the mountain for his people, we want to hold out in prayer, so that the reign of God’s Love can be made manifest once more.