28 January 2024 – 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | Catechetical Sunday

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

As we sit down with this Gospel text, I am sure some of you may wonder what is this unclean Spirit doing in the temple. And I am sure that when I was reading and was reflecting, this question tickled my mind because very often we associate the synagogue, a temple, of where only the Holy One dwells. But quite interestingly, we see that in this temple where Jesus was, there is an unclean spirit. And he knew who Jesus was, he knew what Jesus could do and he knew what he was up against. 

And here we see, dear friends, as we enter this temple of God, as we enter this temple of God’s dwelling, are we coming with an openness of mind and heart? Are we coming into the temple with a purity of heart as what is expected?

And sometimes, dear friends, as we take a deep look at our own self, me included, we enter this temple of God with so much of struggles, with so much of emotion that surrounds us and we are unable to be at peace. And that restlessness within us makes us realise that sometimes what is being said, what is being celebrated, makes us a little uncomfortable, the values whether we live by and the good works that we do. All these, dear friends brings us to a deeper realisation of how we bring ourselves into this temple of God. And we need to ask ourselves, when we are restless with that emotions, with that thought, with that intention, why are we feeling restless.

And sometimes when we feel that restlessness, when we see black and white, it is easy to make a distinction. It is easy to identify what is black and what is white. And sometimes when we go through that form of conversion, it brings us to a deeper realisation that that transformation of life is coming from that love that God has blessed us with, where He reaches to us and leads us through the darkness of the world into His wonderful light. And sometimes that transformation is very vivid and is very visible in our lives. 

On the other hand, if we have to make a distinction between some dark colours like say dark gray or dark blue versus black, it is not easy to distinguish. It is not easy to tell the difference. And sometimes, dear friends, when our emotions and our intentions move from the dark colours to a similar dark colours, then it is difficult for us to identify where the work of God is. But when we enter into the temple together with Jesus, and when we sit still and we reflect and ask the Lord to discern and to reflect upon those moments with clarity, Jesus continues to stir our conscience and He is able to identify what is wrong, what is right and the secret intention or motivations of our heart.

Because the way that we see one another, the way that we see each other, the way that we see the world, the way we see our self must be guided by these values that Jesus teaches. And the teachings of Jesus, dear friends, like the Scribes and the Pharisees or people around Him made a deep impression in them. Why did it make a deep impression? Because they knew that what Jesus was saying resonated with what they were experiencing. And the authority that Jesus was given was the authority that comes from God. The authority that comes from His experiences of life, guided by the Holy Spirit and to be able to recognise and see where they are.

So dear friends, as we enter this temple of God today, we need to ask ourselves are we coming with that restlessness or are we coming with that sense of peace and joy to encounter Jesus?

And very often, dear friends, when negativity hits, when we get disillusioned and frustrated, we have this tendency sometimes to highlight what is negative rather than highlighting what is important and what is good. And for those things as such, as is expressed in the Gospel today,
“In their synagogue just then, there was a man possessed by an unclean spirit. He shouted: “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.” But Jesus replied sharply. He said: “Be quiet! Come out of him!”

And here, dear friends, when we allow ourselves to be filled with all these negativity, to be filled with all these things that is not of God, and when we give so much of importance to those things, then our minds are clouded with all the negativity that is around us that we are unable to move forward to where God wants of us.

So when we are able to recognise and acknowledge the goodness that is in one another, the goodness that is in each other, then we are able to see with that vision that God has. And for that, dear friends, we need the guidance of Jesus, we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit and we need the Lord to continue to make us see in greater vision and in greater clarity what is good and what is truth.

So today, as we enter into this temple of God, let us come with this awareness that it brings in the Responsorial Psalm today:
O that today you will listen to His voice! “Harden not your hearts.”

And very often, dear friends, we know what are the areas of life that we need to change. We know what are the areas of life that we need to take a turn. But very often our hearts can be stubborn because we choose to do what we want and what we think it is right. But today’s Responsorial Psalm invites us that as we enter into this temple of God, to take a deep look at our own self. To take a deep look at where we are in our relationship with God and to mold our hearts and not to harden our hearts.

Because when we allow ourselves to be molded by the grace and the world of God and by Jesus, then we will be able to listen to that promptings, listen to that voice which leads us towards a life of holiness, towards a life that is in a deeper union and relationship with God.

Let us pray, dear friends, that with this invitation, to take a look at our self. Let us spend some moment in silence. Let us spend this moment in silence to come to acknowledge what are the restlessness that we have within our hearts. Is it coming from the evil one or is it coming from God? And for the times that we have been unable to find peace and comfort with Jesus, we call on Jesus to bring healing and to bring revival and to bring new life in us.

I invite you to take this moment to see where are we in our relationship with Jesus for a moment. 

As Jesus enters the temples of our hearts, what is Jesus saying? As Jesus enters the temple, let us cry out to Jesus. Let us cry out to Jesus who brings healing and who wants to restore us and liberate us from the darkness of our world into the light of His grace. And as each time when we fall in those moments of despair, moments that we are distant, moments that we are challenged, we call on the name of Jesus and ask Him to bring healing and restoration in our lives. And for those moments, let us call on the name of Jesus as we sing the name of Jesus now.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus……

Each time we are challenged, dear friends, let us call on the name of Jesus because the name of Jesus has authority. The name of Jesus has power to heal, power to restore and power to bring us to new life and to mold, shape our hearts more and more into the image of God in us.

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