Sunday Readings: Deuteronomy 18.15-20; 1 Corinthians 7.32-35; Mark 1.28
“What is this? A new teaching–with authority!” – Mark 1.27
An unholy spirit cries out in the synagogue where Jesus preaches in Sunday’s gospel. Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, a word that also means to silence, muzzle, tie shut. The unclean spirit will not be Jesus’ herald. The unclean spirits are right to ask Jesus if he has come to destroy them. The answer is yes. The gospel challenges us to discern the spirits that drive us.
Ambition may drive us, the desire to achieve and advanced degree or a high-paying job. Desire for security can drive us, a willingness to do whatever a boss asks in order to pay the bills and provide health benefits for the family. Alcohol or chocolate can possess us, becoming a comfort in our stress or pain more perfect and pliant than any human friend. Fear can stifle our creative selves or choke our voices.
What clamors for attention in yourself? What erodes your wholeness or the wholeness you seek?
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