4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B — January 31st, 2021

Today, on the feast of Our Lord’s Presentation in the Temple, the Church celebrates the annual Day of Consecrated Life, and our Scripture sharing this week tied in beautifully with this theme! We opened by discussing the Second Reading, a passage that has been very important throughout the centuries in the Church’s understanding of consecrated life. St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians are the earliest record of Christian men and women voluntarily foregoing marriage “for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven,” as Our Lord Himself suggested. Nearly two thousand years later, God is still calling people to this special state of life, one that is focused on becoming “holy in body and in spirit.” Religious, however, do not respond to this call for their own sake alone – rather, they are consecrated for the entire Church and the world, to serve as a witness and as an encouragement for all to seek holiness in their own state in life.

A Sister began by posing a problem: we as religious know very well how easy it is, even in the cloister, to become “anxious about the things of the world!” Daily duties, maintenance needs, financial administration, and a host of other matters are constantly a part of our lives, even as we strive to be instead “anxious for the things of the Lord.” So how do St. Paul’s words still ring true? The answer lies in the way we approach these mundane matters. As religious, and especially as contemplatives, we are called to make all things “the things of the Lord.” We strive to see God’s Will in the tasks assigned to us – to wash dishes for the love of Jesus, to do paperwork for God’s glory, to answer correspondence in union with the Lord, etc. In fact, by virtue of the religious vows, every action we perform becomes an act of the virtue of religion; our whole life is transformed into worship of God!

As we said earlier, however, our lives of prayer are not just for our own benefit, but for the good of the Church and the world. When we find our work or other duties difficult and yet still choose to fulfill them for the love of God, we call down graces on those in need. The “battles” we fight may seem small indeed, but God magnifies their consequences in proportion to our generosity, transforming our tiny efforts into needed strength and consolation for those who may be struggling with greater challenges and far less support. Perhaps a nun who is fighting off weariness as she works in the garden is winning graces of perseverance for an exhausted and overworked parish priest! This awareness of our “living intercession” can in turn strengthen us to be more faithful in meeting daily challenges, as we consider all those who may be spiritually depending on us. As St. Therese once told one of her novices who was unenthusiastic about work, “We have children to feed!”

We also discussed the Gospel for this Sunday, St. Mark’s powerful account of Jesus’ first exorcism. In a recent Scripture study we watched as a community, Dr. Tim Gray pointed out that the demon’s words (“I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”) are not a humble confession of faith, but actually a vain attempt to exorcise Jesus Himself! To know the name of a person in ancient Judaism was to have power over that person, and even to this day exorcists will often try to discover the name of the demon they are combatting, in order to more effectively expel it. The irony in this situation is, of course, how utterly futile such an attempt is. How could a fallen angel be so foolish as to try to exorcise God Himself? One Sister suggested that we can see here the way sin darkens the intellect, even the enormously powerful intellect of an angel. Some have said that while the demons knew Jesus was the Messiah, they did not fully grasp His Divinity until the very end, because the astonishing humility of the Incarnation was utterly incomprehensible to them in their pride.

In fact, Christ used this blindness of Satan and his minions as a tool of their own downfall. In the Passion, our God Incarnate allowed all the forces of Hell to do their worst to Him, as He atoned for the sins of all time. However, at the very moment when He seemed to be defeated – at His death on the Cross – He won the final victory over sin, Satan, and death, descending into the realm of the dead and freeing the long-captive souls there. His glorious Resurrection brought this marvelous Paschal Mystery to completion, and thanks to this ultimate triumph of life over death, Christians throughout the ages have received the strength to face the Enemy fearlessly and share in Jesus’ victory!