Faith-Repentance-St Agatha

HOMILY WEEK 04 03 – Year II

Truly Trusting or Taking Offence?

Memorial of St. Agatha

(2 Sam 24:2-17; Ps 32; Mk 6:1-6)

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“They took offense at him.” (Mark 6:3)

Today’s readings present us with a choice – to truly trust in Jesus or to end up, in one form or another, taking offense at him.

There is a rather striking shift in this chapter of Mark. In the previous chapter, Jesus causes a legion of demons to fly out of a possessed man (5:1-20). We see a woman touch Jesus’ clothing and receive a long hoped-for healing (5:25-34). And we see Jesus speak just two words to bring a young girl back to life (5:41). But then Jesus came to his hometown, and the mighty works diminished dramatically – “and he could do no deed of power there” (6:5).

What happened? Instead of clamoring to be near him and crying out for healing, they were suddenly taking offense at his teaching. Could it be Jesus was too ordinary for them – the son of Mary and related to lots of cousins? Or was Jesus tripping them up by his example and his words? After all, it is natural to avoid someone whose witness moves us to think or act differently. In the end, the gospel tells us Jesus was “amazed at their unbelief” (6:6).

I think that is the underlying cause of the rejection of Jesus – a lack of trust and belief in who he was as the Son of God, the Word made flesh. It was too much for them to take in – to believe in him and put their trust in him was beyond his own townspeople.

This lack of faith in those who claim they believe in God is not new – it is David’s problem in the first reading. We know David had previously sinned grievously in the incident with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) – lust, adultery, arrange a murder. This taking of a census could be called David’s other sin, only here he acknowledges his guilt more forthrightly.

But why was a seemingly innocent enough thing like a census seen as such a serious sin by David? I think because it symbolizes a lack of faith and trust in the providence of God. Somehow, in his mind as king, knowing exactly how many thousands of soldiers he had able to draw a sword, usurped the power of God and manifested a desire on his part to play God. So, David felt “good guilt,” confessed to God, and was open to whatever punishment for that sin God might mete out through the prophet Gad. We can keep in mind there is also present here a very Old Testament image of God as a punishing God.

We need not judge David harshly, for his lack of trust is just as present and real in our lives of faith as it was in his. Bob was advised by his spiritual director to “Look over the pattern of your sins and see if you can find the main one.” After some time in prayer and reflection, what surfaced actually surprised him – he realized and had to admit he did not really trust in God’s providence, that God would be there for him in the end! That insecure, lack of faith and trust was his main root sin that led him to become quite materialistic.

We can all ask ourselves in the light of these two chapters of Mark – what are the unclean spirits we may be clinging too in our lives, and more, what is the main one? Perhaps it might emerge as a lack of trust and faith in Jesus as the Son of God, as the Light of the world, as the Word made flesh, as the only one whose love can truly fill our souls with meaning, purpose, serenity and joy.

In her book The Grace in Aging, author Kathleen Dowling Singh describes an all too common resistance to aging. Her words can also apply to our lack of trust in God’s providence, as she writes, “For the most part, we live contracted, defended. We live small and unfree. To be fair, the culture in which we were raised offered virtually no options. This restriction in which we’ve chosen to live, even if by default, puts a great deal of effort into attempting to deny or ignore the way things are. Many of us often treat the truth as if it were a great inconvenient obstacle looming in the middle of our carefully arranged stage set, something we need to tiptoe around. We’ve lived many decades in a bit of a fog, in the denial of impermanence. The implications of our own aging seem threatening to our ordinary view of self, to our unexamined expectations, our unconscious points of perspective. Enmeshed in denial, we’ve lived in all of the stress – physical, mental emotional – that is denial’s inevitable companion, however deeply we may have tired and may continue to try to numb ourselves… Many of us still cling to reputation, to imagine security, to unexamined habits of attitude and behavior, and to self-image” (pages 16-17).

Today the church honors St. Agatha, who models radical faith for us. Known mainly through legend, she was martyred during the time of the Decian persecution (249-251). It is alleged she was sent to a brothel to force her to give up her faith. After she was tortured, the apostle Peter is said to have appeared and cured her. The following day she died in prison of new cruelties. Her intervention was credited with stilling the eruption of Mount Edna the year after her burial. In the Middle Ages, especially in southern Germany, bread, candles, fruit and letters were blessed in her name to ward off destruction by fire. She is considered a patron of miners, alpine guides and nurses, and is mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I.

The Eucharist, for those who have faith, is an experience of the unconditional love of God whose forgiveness and healing becomes so humbly present to us it might be hard for us to fathom.

Let us muster up our faith, as did David, put our trust totally and completely in God’s providence, as did St. Agatha, let go of any unclean spirits and false gods in our lives, and follow Jesus wholeheartedly in giving our lives away in loving service as he did.