Daily Reflection Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

The gospel of Mark is fast paced we are in chapter one verse twenty-one and we have already learned of John the Baptist, the baptism of the Lord, the temptation in the desert, the call of the disciples and now Jesus confronting a demoniac spirit. Mark is in a hurry to get us to the two main themes of his gospel. Those two themes are who is Jesus called the Christ and what it means to be a disciple.

    Mark in this chapter is letting us know right away that Jesus is teaching with authority. Jesus is teaching in a way that lets them know he is familiar with the father not just someone who has heard of the father. The unclean spirit knows that Jesus is no ordinary teacher. This spirit recognizes something is different in Jesus. When the unclean spirt speaks out Jesus tells the unclean spirit to be quiet and the spirit is gone. Jesus shows that he not only knows the father but has come with the authority of the father. 

    The verse that I kept going back to was “I know who you are - the Holy One of God.” I spent several days pondering this statement. After the temptation in the desert, we know that Satan is well aware of who Jesus is. The unclean spirit is just a way for Satan to discredit Jesus in the temple but this backfires and the rest as they say is history.

    I look at this passage differently. We are all created to be Holy. Our destination, God willing is heaven, but if someone one ran into us and observed us or heard us speaking would they say, “you are a holy one of God, you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus.”  On any given day if someone asked you or I if we are holy how would we respond? We would probably find all our faults and not recognize our holiness.  If St. Paul who had Christians murdered and St. Augustine who left the church for seventeen year and took a mistress can become saints, then there is hope for all of us.  

We can attain heaven and holiness by sharing a welcoming smile, leading a compassionate ear, caring for the poor, growing closer to God in prayer. Small steps can lead to greater things. As St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “we can’t all do great things but we can do all things with great love.” The saints with the capital “S” as I call them are known for great deeds, but I think it is okay to strive for the small “s” and be loving and compassionate. Who knows, maybe one day our small “s” will lead others to gain a big “S” in front of their names.