Father Denny Dempsey

First Sunday of Lent B March 1, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:12-15  When I was a kid, professional boxing from Madison Square Garden dominated Friday night viewing on the “Gillette Cavalcade of Sports”. Managers and trainers would escort their man down the aisle and into the ring. The boxer typically wore a flashy robe with his name emblazoned across the back. He had trained for this fight and was there to face his opponent in battle.

In today’s gospel, the Spirit drives Jesus out into the desert….in Matthew and Luke specifically for Jesus be tempted by the devil. The image of the fighter comes to mind. The Spirit was guiding and preparing Jesus, not to run away from the devil but to face him and be victorious in the battle. The Spirit accompanied Jesus as the manager leads and guides the boxer. Jesus will square off against the workings of the devil a number of times during his ministry. We read of one example a few weeks ago in the account of Jesus casting the evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue at Capernaum. The text said that Jesus faced the spirit directly and asserted his authority. Jesus was ready to do battle and to reclaim territory for the Kingdom of God. He invites each person to enter that kingdom by repentance (renunciation of the reign of sin in one’s life) and belief in the good news of the gospel.

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time B February 22, 2009

Gospel, Mark 2:1-12  This is one of my favorite Gospel texts, encompassing such a variety of characters and so visual I find it easy to place myself in the scene. Jesus has returned once again to the home of Simon Peter, to the same room in which he had previously healed many of the townspeople following casting out of the evil spirit during the synagogue service.

The house was built in the typical style of the time…an enclosing outside wall along which the interior rooms were built. In Capernaum, walls were constructed of uncut basalt stones balanced with small rocks and pebbles, then plastered with mud and whitewashed. Ceiling beams were spaced about every two feet, crisscrossed with a cover of branches and reeds held together with mud and a final layer of smooth clay mud on top. There on the roof people dried fruits and grains and even slept up there on nights when the poorly ventilated rooms were too hot and stuffy.

The four men who brought their paralytic friend to Jesus knew how such roofs were built…and disassembled when needs be. It was their faith that Jesus noted, not just that of their paralytic friend. I can imagine him looking at them, a smile acknowledging their ingenuity in getting their friend before him…and them smiling back in recognition. I am sure that, after the paralytic was healed and the crowds dispersed, they would get to work repairing the roof and spending some time with Jesus, home-owner Peter, and the rest of the disciples.

Jesus forgives the paralytic’s sins before the physical healing. Some years ago a friend who participated in a healing prayer ministry told me of a person who had come numerous times for prayer but had not received the healing she desired. One of the team members, sensing that God wanted to heal her, asked if she was holding onto any resentment toward another person. She acknowledged that she was. They began praying for the grace for her to forgive, and when she was finally able to do so, she received the physical healing following the spiritual one. We are a unity of physical-emotional-spiritual and it is not surprising that illness and healing in the physical realm be related to spiritual illness and healing.

In the order in which Jesus healed, Jesus also wanted to give his naysayers evidence that he had the authority to forgive sins. They weren’t convinced. I wonder if their lack of spiritual openness may have also resulted in a little arthritis or indigestion.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time B February 15, 2009

Gospel, Mark 1:40-45  See the commentary after today’s first reading regarding leprosy and Jewish understanding of both cause and cure. The leper in this account was rather bold, coming up so close to Jesus rather than keeping his distance and calling out “unclean!” OR he had such confidence in Jesus’ healing power (as clearly indicated in his statement) that he knew Jesus was immune from catching the disease.

It gives us cause to consider what our confidence level is as we approach God in prayer or follow what we sense to be God’s will but don’t really know where it is going. You may have read the account passed around by email of the person who had a sense from God to go buy a gallon of milk, then to bring it to a certain house. Feeling rather embarrassed to go up to a strange house to give them a gallon of milk, he discovers that the family had no money and needed milk for their baby. Whether an actual happening or an inspirational fable, I don’t know, but it illustrates the point…we do best to follow what we sense to be God’s will and let God surprise us as God takes care of a plan beyond our understanding.

Regardless of Jesus admonition to the opposite, who could blame the former leper for telling everyone about what Jesus had done for him? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were all such good evangelizers, sharing with others how we have experienced the goodness of God in our lives? Jesus was concerned both for the number of people who would descend upon him seeking favors as well as their stopping at that rather than going on from the healings to become hearers of his message. Well, the resurrected Jesus doesn’t get tired out from crowds, but he may still be concerned that people stop at asking favors rather than going on to be hearers of the word.