Homily

Jesus lived in Capernaum, the most significant city in Galilee, at the centre of an important route uniting two great urban centres, Tolemaid and Damascus. It is there that Jesus started preaching starting in the synagogue. He went to work at once, without hesitation, and with the precise intention of showing to people God’s wisdom and power to change men and women. Moreover, he had come to change the world, to free it from the slavery of sin and evil. The Gospel is the leaven of a new life for all; it is not reserved to only a few, nor should it remain marginal to life or in the private sphere of individuals or groups. The Gospel offers renewal for the entire life of cities, of the world. We could say that the Gospel message is, by its very nature, social; it is for all.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not mention that preaching began with the teaching of the beatitudes; he prefers to underscore the authority with which Jesus communicated the Gospel and the consequences of it. Mark notes clearly that those in the synagogue “were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Capernaum had a good number of scribes and doctors of the law, but no one spoke with the same authority as Jesus. It was not possible to remain indifferent to his teachings; those who listened were obliged to make a choice. The numerous scribes, never at a lack of words, did in fact leave the crowds with nothing more than themselves or the fashion of the times.
In reality, we too, live in a similar situation today. Our cities are deeply in crisis in terms of values and behaviour. Often, even within the same person, opposing beliefs, different and contradictory-traditions coexist. We might say that one of the characteristics of modern-day society and of our cities is to have many beliefs and maybe no culture at all, to the point that we assume it is admissible to have a polytheistic city model even more than a secular one. Everyone seems to have his or her own god, temple, scribe, and preacher. The problem with the polytheistic city is that it lacks a “teacher,” someone who teaches with authority. In the end, the only god is the “self” and on this altar people make sacrifices of all kinds. It is as though there is a race to “egolatry”, that is, to the folly of worshipping only self and of being subject to innumerable “unclean spirits” that bring us where they want. We delude-ourselves by believing that we are exercising our freedom whereas, in fact, we are slaves to egocentric feelings.
In the narration by Mark of the man possessed by an unclean spirit, we can easily see contemporaneous men and-women. And we should not forget that we are children of this society as well! How many “unclean spirits” subdue the hearts of many people! And as in this episode they cannot endure any threat to their dominion! The spirits who possess the man shout at Jesus: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” With these words, they show their radical opposition to those who want to disturb their unconditional power over the hearts of people. In theory, they are not ideologically opposed to the work of Jesus, but to the fact that he intervenes in their personal lives. They radically oppose the Gospel’s authority over life. This happens each time that we don’t allow the Gospel to change our heart or, in any case, to speak authoritative words about our behaviour.
Jesus came to free men and women from all types of slavery. For this reason, he shouts loudly, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The impure spirit is forced to flee. In face of the numerous evil spirits that subjugate men and women today, we need Jesus’ cry to ring out against them once again. Every disciple is called to this challenge: to once again introduce the Gospel’s authority in their own lives and those of others. We might say that now is the time to shout the Gospel from rooftops so that the oppressing spirits may be expelled and a new culture may arise: the culture of mercy. Pope Francis does not cease reminding this to all disciples. Indeed it is urgent for the entire Church to be reminded, for all the faithful and ecclesial community to find the courage to propose again the Gospel “sine glossa,” i.e. without additions, as Francis of Assisi used to say. This is the only authority that “commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mk 1:27).