Homily 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B I 9 June 2024 I Homily 9 June 2024 Year B

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. The readings today focus on the theme of discernment between listening to the voice of God and the voice of the evil one. In contrast to the first creation account in Genesis which presents God as distant and majestic, the second creation narrative which we hear in today's first reading, presents a more anthropomorphic view of God which means that God is presented as having feelings or characteristics like a human being. God is more closer to humans, He walks and talks with them. It's a very beautiful image to think of - a deep level of intimacy between God and humans. God seeks out humans, however, the man and woman hide themselves among the trees in the garden when they hear God approaching (Genesis 3:8b). The Garden of Eden resembles a courtroom where God is examining the accused. As is common to human nature, they start the blame game instead of accepting responsibility for their actions. While Adam indirectly blames God since it was God who had given the woman to him as a companion, Eve blames the serpent for having deceived her into eating the fruit. Interestingly, only the serpent is cursed.

To get a deeper insight into this narrative we need to first keep aside the popular interpretations which focus on the role of the woman in the origin of sin in the world and let us turn our attention to the 2 questions posed by God. God’s first question “Where are you?” is more than God’s inquiry about their whereabouts. The question is an invitation to an inward journey. “Where are you?” is a request toward self-examination and intimacy with the Divine. The second question, “Who told you that you were naked?” is a reminder that we have to be very careful about whose voice we listen to. It is a question about the complex theological task of discerning right from wrong, an ongoing process in human existence. Contained within this narrative is also the promise of a Redeemer (Gen 3: 15). It’s an insight into the divine plan of salvation, portraying Christ’s victory over evil as fulfilling this ancient prophecy. Sin not only fractured the relationship between humans and God, but it also breached the relationship between humans themselves. Sin destroys relationships. Sin makes us suspicious and bitter and turns us against even those who love us.

The second reading, which comes from St. Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, deals with the opposition Paul faced in Corinth from people who questioned his qualifications and authority and bring into perspective significant characteristics of a life lived from faith. Paul argues the gospel that established the Corinthian church and made him an apostle by defending his authority to the Corinthians. Paul contends that the Corinthians shouldn't question his leadership since tribulation and suffering are not indications of failure. Rather, these illustrate that the entirety of Christian life consists of perpetual death and resurrection following the crucified and risen Christ. Suffering in itself is not redemptive, but it is an inevitable part of living and preaching the gospel of life and truth in a world where the powers of death and deception still attack, until the fullness of God’s purposes is realized.  Paul makes a distinction between our outer nature and inner nature. Our outer nature refers to the frailty of our human existence. The “inner nature” is what God is doing in us that makes the “life of Jesus” also “visible in our bodies” (4:10).  What is truly amazing is that Paul can say amid hardship that there is hope.  For Paul, this hope is worth allowing oneself to be exposed to hardship to proclaim the good news of God’s acts of redemption. Paul's invitation to anticipate Christ's final triumph over death in the resurrection is not intended to encourage an escape-oriented spirituality that ignores the genuine challenges of living an embodied life in the here and now. On the contrary, it provides Christians with the hope and a solid foundation in God's life that they need to deal with the inevitable suffering and difficulties of this world. It enables us to see God's healing and new life entering difficult situations in a way that inspires us to respond in a way that reflects this change.

In the gospel taken from Mark, we have what biblical scholars would say a sandwich construction – in simple terms, a different story is placed between the beginning and end of another story. In this narrative, we have the conflict between Jesus and Satan, told in a parable placed between the narrative of Jesus’ conflict with his family and the religious authorities.  Let’s look at these two narratives separately. If ever there was anyone who was a complete social misfit, it was Jesus. The news about the radical ministry of Jesus was spreading like wildfire. Jesus’ family, in a very familiar Indian way of wanting to save the reputation of their family or as we say it here in Hindi “yeh hamare izzat ka sawaal hai”, attempts to put an end to his unconventional ministry. However, Jesus in his reply redefines the meaning of family saying that those who do God’s will are his family. The Jews believed that because they were of the lineage of Abraham, they would automatically enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 3:7–9). Jesus’ reply emphasises the point that family relationships were not a free ticket into the kingdom of God. Human family relationships are beautiful and necessary, and God is the one who created and provided those relationships. Jesus is not minimizing the importance of family relationships; rather, He is emphasizing that having a right relationship with God by obeying His will is the most important.

Let us now let’s get to the central portion of the sandwich – the conflict between Jesus and Satan. The kingdom of Satan opposes the kingdom of God and with the appearance of Jesus, the two kingdoms and locked in a struggle. Jesus speaks in parables and not in plain speech. The allegorical parable regarding the plundering of the house of the strong man suggests that Satan is the strong one in possession of his house and goods i.e. this world and that Jesus is the stronger one who has come to bind him and take his possessions away. Jesus is the only one who can save the world and by his death on the cross, Jesus has tied up the strong man Satan. The unforgivable blasphemy is to attribute Jesus’ works to an unclean spirit rather than to the Holy Spirit. The readings today encourage us to not give up in the face of struggles and difficulties. Quite often the first step which Satan employs is to discourage us. He’ll tell us that what we are called to do is too difficult, and it's not worth it. When we hear these words we got to be able to discern the voice. We can and have to battle the evil in our world without fear because the devil himself is tied up. No doubt there is still evil, sin, hatred and injustice in this world. But we ought to face it confidently, knowing that there is someone stronger than the devil who is on our side. So what are we called to do then? We are called to plunder the house of Satan and save the world from his clutches. We are called to cooperate with Jesus in this cosmic battle. Each one of us is part of this battle. The important question is: Whose side are you on? I pray that each one of us does our part in making our world into the original Garden of Eden. May God bless us all.