A reading of the holy Gospel according to Mk 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “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 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 his 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.”
REFLECTION
"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
In the American West gold rush there was a frenzy for gold and many tricked themselves into thinking they found gold. They were then surprised when the surveyor said, “Fools Gold”. They had not come to the right conclusion and off they had gone down the wrong mine. Many lost all hope of that peace they sought when they were going to make it rich. How true that “All that glitters is not gold”.
In today's gospel, the people thought Jesus was possessed and quite quickly came to the conclusion that the power He had could not be divine. They thought the prince of demons was driving out demons. Without critical thinking they readily jumped to conclusion based on their predispositions and prejudices With no facts and mistaken observations they came to the wrong conclusion.
Jesus was showing the crowd who He was while curing them of their physical and spiritual ailments. Only Jesus could provide the hope and peace they sought . But they preferred to go down the counterfeit route for even Satan disguises himself as an “angel of light”.
The Saint of the Day, St Francis de Sales, set out to convert the Calvinists. The Calvanists believed in predestination and the sovereignty of the scriptures. He worked with the Calvinists by gentle persuasion and authored many pamphlets explaining the true Catholic faith. He was a gentle soul, and he took seriously the word of God and tried to show them the errors of their thinking.
Follow the PAPA way of critical thinking. Find hope and peace in Jesus Christ.
God bless you
