Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 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
Unity leads to survival
1) They said of Jesus. There were so many comments about Jesus! Imagine how quickly gossip was going around about everything he did and spoke! Jesus was not spared from gossip, why do you think you will? For those who do good, it’s almost impossible. Because people will always talk about you, whenever you do good things. The point here is that it shouldn’t affect you. I think there are times when we have to ask for forgiveness for the times we did not make the most of our gifts, those gifts that God has given us, for fear of what people might say. Just remember that people always talk about those who do good.
2) Internal divisions. When there is internal division everything collapses. That’s why we must always pray for the Church, because when people start taking sides or gossiping as to whether someone is conservative or liberal, whether the priest wears a cassock or a plaid shirt, there is bound to be conflict. These divisions don’t help the Church. The same thing happens within the family. There’s always someone of a contentious nature or someone who is constantly comparing himself or herself to others. There are even moments when someone might say, “don’t invite them over for lunch this Sunday because when they come, there is no peace at all”. A family like this ends up being unhealthy, because nothing good can come from gossip and divisions, or taking sides for or against others.
3) Holy Spirit. Every single person who has been baptized has the fire of the Spirit within them. We cannot let this fire extinguish, because it leads us on towards happiness with Christ and we all have this supernatural seed that gives us the strength of the Holy Spirit. Look inside yourself and discover that gift that you have been given and that you must give to others.
Never forget that something good is on the way! God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
