20 Jesus returned home to Capernaum. Once again, the crowds gathered to such an extent that he and his disciples were unable to eat their meal. 21 When Jesus' family in Nazareth heard the news, they decided to go looking for him, thinking he had completely lost his mind.

22 There were also some Bible scholars who had come down from Jerusalem to hear him, and judged that Jesus was under the sway of Beelzebul, and that it was through this ruler of demons that he performed his exorcisms. 23 So Jesus called in the Bible scholars to offer a comparison: "How is it possible that Satan can expel Satan? 24 For example, if a kingdom is torn by divisions, it will not long maintain itself as a separate kingdom. 25 In the same way, if a clan is torn by internal divisions, it will not long remain as a clan. 26 So if Satan has begun to attack himself and is experiencing internal divisions, he is about to die. 27 Another comparison that explains my action. One cannot seize the goods of an estate without first disabling the strong man protecting it. 28 Truly, I assure you, God will forgive all offenses and insults against him, no matter how many. 29 However, whoever attacks the Holy Spirit, he can never receive forgiveness, for his fault has eternal consequences." 30 Jesus was saying these things to those who accused him of acting under the impulse of an evil spirit.

31 Then Jesus' mother arrived, accompanied by his brothers, who were standing outside the house, asking for him to be fetched. 32 The crowd seated around Jesus said to him: "Do you hear? Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you?" 33 Then Jesus answers them with this question: "Who really is my mother, and who really are my brothers?" 34 Then, after casting his gaze over those sitting around him, listening to him, he says: "Here they are, my mother and my brothers. 35 For whoever acts in accordance with God's will is truly my brother and sister and mother."

What's at stake in an authentic life?

Jerry is now in palliative care with bone cancer. He doesn't have long left in this world. So he can speak more freely, and reveal his secret. It's a secret he's kept since he was a teenager when, after revealing his homosexual orientation to his mother, she told him: "Don't ever tell anyone." For her, it was probably a question of saving the family honor. And no doubt she felt she was facing an unavowable stigma. But could she have guessed the terrible consequences of what she was asking of her son? Many decisions are born of ignorance, and we can apply to them the phrase that Luke puts into the mouth of Jesus on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34). But what happens when the opportunity arises to open up to the truth?

Just recently, scientists managed to film two humpback whales mating for the first time off Hawaii's Maui Islands. But, to everyone's surprise, it turned out to be two males, well identified by the scientists who had been tracking them for several years. All this raised the question of homosexuality in animals. The scientific journal Nature had already published an article reporting that homosexual behavior had been observed to exist in at least 261 mammal species, or 4% of the total number. And as one scientist pointed out, this figure is probably an underestimate, as biologists have not traditionally focused on this kind of study. So what does this mean? Can we invoke the "law of nature" to assert that homosexuality is "unnatural"? Statistically speaking, no. Homosexuality is part of nature, albeit in small numbers. And its significance for the human being is clear: homosexual orientation is not acquired, but given at the start of life, so that we don't become homosexual, but discover it. It's similar to being born right- or left-handed, and it wouldn't be surprising if it were in the same proportions. And now the question: what would have happened if this information had been given to Jerry's mother? This is where an existential issue arises, that of being authentic or rejecting it, i.e., accepting or rejecting a new truth when it challenges our view of things.

It seemed appropriate to read today's Gospel in this context. As he does a number of times, the evangelist Mark interweaves two stories in the form of a sandwich: the first story is that of Jesus' relationship with his immediate family, who consider him to have lost his mind and therefore want to take him back home to Nazareth; the second story is that of the intervention of the Bible scholars, the scribes, who have come from Jerusalem, trying to discredit Jesus' action by accusing him of casting out demons by invoking Beelzebul, the chief of the demons; This second story gives Jesus' family time to arrive in Capernaum, and the scene ends with Jesus' family pitted against the family of those who listen to Jesus and do his will. As is usual with Mark, it is the intercalated narrative, the center of the sandwich, that is the key to interpreting the whole. Let's take a closer look at this story.

Faced with the scribes' interpretation of his action, linking it to the devil, and therefore to a force of evil, Jesus asks them a simple question: how is this possible? Then, Jesus himself answers his question in two parts: first with two comparisons that demonstrate the illogicality of the scribes' interpretation, i.e. a kingdom or clan that tears itself apart is doomed to its own destruction, and then the logical conclusion: if the demon, a force of evil, casts itself out, its end is near. The second part of Jesus' response justifies why he is attacking the demon, the force of evil: if you want to rule the world, you must first attack the strong man, i.e. the force of evil. This scene ends with a solemn declaration that may seem surprising: we can insult God in a thousand ways, forgiveness or reconciliation will always be possible, but forgiveness will never be possible when we directly attack the Holy Spirit, i.e. the breath or inspiration that comes from God. What does this mean?

Mark rarely uses the expression "holy spirit": Jesus' baptism is a baptism in the "holy spirit", David wrote Psalm 118 under the inspiration of the "holy spirit", and when Christians are brought before the courts, it is the "holy spirit" that will suggest what to say. In this way, the Holy Spirit appears as a dynamic force within a person, inspiring their words and actions. So what does it mean to insult or oppose this inner force? And Mark goes to the trouble of pointing out that the scribes' attribution of Jesus' actions to demons is exactly an example of insulting this inner dynamic force. For, after demonstrating the total illogicality of this interpretation by the scribes, Jesus seems to be saying that continuing to maintain this interpretation and not changing constitutes a fault against this inner inspiration or light. In modern terms, we'd say it's bad faith: maintaining a position despite evidence to the contrary. Why is this an unforgivable sin? This inner inspiration seems to be God's only voice of access to the human being, and if it is intentionally blocked, God no longer has a hold on the human being, he can no longer re-establish the relationship, which is the definition of forgiveness.

It's time to get back to Jerry and his mother. How would his mother react if she knew that homosexuality is not an affliction, but a biological fact? How would she react if she knew that, by keeping her son a secret, she was condemning him to shame, to denial of who he is, to the inability to live his sexuality openly and "healthily", to have the support of those around him to blossom? I believe that there are decisive moments in life, however rare, when we are confronted with the option of opening up to a new truth and taking consequent action, of shedding our old skin, or preferring to lock ourselves into the status quo and our old convictions. The evangelist Mark would have called such a refusal to open up an insult to the Holy Spirit, for it is a direct attack on a truth presented in the depths of one's heart that is stifled so as not to be heard. Such a person becomes impervious to the light.

But in all this there is good news. A person who is faithful all his life to the compass that is his inner voice, his life instinct, will know how to make the right choices when certain decisive options present themselves, even if they entail painful choices. This is the price of authenticity, of being true to oneself. On this point, Jesus showed us the way. In today's Gospel, Mark tells us that Jesus' family considered him to have lost his mind. This means that he made his own way, and that way was different from that of his family. No doubt it was a painful path, but at the same time a path of life. The path he set out on is also the one we are invited to take.

 

-André Gilbert, Gatineau, March 2024