Sin, Slow Revelations, and a Packed Gospel

 

This Sunday's Mass Readings had sin, slow revelations, and a packed gospel. It seemed to have more this week than others. From well-known stories to familial relationships to searching for answers, they were very busy readings.

It's About Sin

Adam and Eve. We all know the story, right? It seems every time it's read in Mass there's a different message for me. God didn't have to ask Adam what he had done, He already knew but Adam needed to have God ask to make what he did real to him. As my priest said, this passage isn't about being naked, it's about sin. (And here I thought the whole time it was about Adam & Eve realizing they were naked and exposed.) The embarrassment, the shame, the nakedness we feel when we sin. And the humility we feel when we confess our sins. We can blame others for our sins but when it comes down to it we only have ourselves to blame.

Slow But Sure Revelations

As I get older I see and feel my body showing the signs of age. My knees creak and my back aches. I'm not able to do things that I did in my teens and twenties; heck, even things I did in my thirties and forties! During the Readings at Mass as I listened to this passage: "...although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." (2Corinthians 4:16) I thought of how slowly God reveals things to us. He is preparing us to be with Him by little revelations of His love every day just at the precise moment. Things we did or said as we were growing up are given meaning slowly but surely.  As I read this, a thought came to me: I noticed how it's taken me 56 years to truly understand some things in the Bible and in Catholic teachings/practices. Things are slowly revealed to us when God knows we can grasp the true meaning of things. Wow. Just...WOW! What a plan He has for us!

Quite a Packed Gospel

When I first read the Gospel my first thought was how packed it is this Sunday. So many things are in this passage! (Mark 3:20-35) The first thing my priest said during the Homily: "This  Gospel is packed with information!" I had to smile since he used the same word to describe it as I did. Sometimes I think it's crazy how we're on the same wavelength!  He spoke of the familial relationship in the passage. Jesus' family was concerned about his safety: they wanted to get him out of the situation as fast as they could. By Jesus saying his family was there with him, he is calling us to a familial relationship for those who hear the Word of God and live it out.
After reading the Gospel on my own during Adoration on Thursday, my focus was on something else. "How can Satan drive out Satan?" (Mark 3: 23) I had a discussion with one of my adult sons the other day. He asked how we can be sure the Bible wasn't Satan-inspired as opposed to being God-inspired. I told him because the words are for good. I should have gone deeper. The Bible gives us a blueprint for how we should live our lives to achieve our goal: To get to heaven. The answer to my son's question is right there in the Gospel...in Jesus' own words. If it was Satan-inspired then the evil one would be driving himself out. He wants nothing more than to steer us away from the Holy Trinity, not draw us closer. That being said, there is no way that Satan had his hand in writing the Bible.

In the book God's Enduring Presence (Joyce Rupp) I read this: Beware of those who try to steal your joy from you. Satan is real, Y'all, and he's doing his best to steal our joy. I even see it in my own house. He puts doubts into family members and is putting me to the test, asking questions that require real answers. Answers that I may not think I have. Then I see the Holy spirit feeding me the answers so I don't have a "deer in headlights" look. The Holy Spirit is alive and is ready to assist us in battle every step of the way.
How was your Homily? Was it full of sin, slow revelations, and a packed gospel, too?