Saturday January 20, 2024

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They said, “He is out of his mind.” (from Saturday’s Gospel reading)

Good News Reflection for:

Saturday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
January 20, 2024

Today’s Readings:

2 Samuel 1: 1-4. 11-12. 19. 23-27
Ps 80:2-3. 5-7
Mark 3: 20-21
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012024.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-january-20-2024

The scriptural cliff-hanger that’s too funny to ignore

This Saturday’s Gospel reading is disturbingly too short. Perhaps one of the humans who set up the lectionary fell asleep on the job. It did, however, give us the scriptural cliff-hanger that’s too funny to ignore.

Jesus entered into the house with his disciples. A crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard about this, they set out to seize him. They said, “He is out of his mind.”

That’s the whole Gospel reading! What was the lectionary team thinking? Hello? Did you guys forget something? Did you mean to create the scriptural cliff-hanger that’s too funny to ignore?

On second thought, perhaps stopping the story at this very disturbing point is exactly what the Holy Spirit wants. In any good joke, the last words are the punch-line. In a well-crafted article, the last words of a paragraph invite readers to continue. In a mystery story, the cliff-hanger keeps us coming back to see what happens next. This scripture is all three.

It’s a good joke, and if we listen carefully, we can hear Jesus laughing. He’s not insulted by the conclusion they jumped to. He knows Who he is, what his mission is, and how much more “in his right mind” he is than others are. In the confidence of knowing the truth, false conclusions seem downright funny.

It’s certainly a well-crafted scripture, even if it is the scriptural cliff-hanger that’s too funny to ignore. The Holy Spirit is inviting us to continue reading. We’re not supposed to limit ourselves to what is given to us in the current day’s readings. We’re supposed to be mature enough and interested enough to pick up the Bible on our own and keep reading. (Spoiler alert: The story continues on Monday, and the next thing that happens is Jesus is accused of working for the devil. Well, that’s worth a big laugh!)

It’s a good mystery story, and the cliff-hanger is one that invites us to ponder over the weekend how Jesus handles false accusations. What clues is the Lord giving us about what he wants to teach us about it?

Remember when someone thought that you were out of your mind? I can’t count how many times people made that assumption about me. I’ve lost friends, readers, donors, board members, and family because of it. It hurts, and because we want to be humble, we question our own sanity, giving too much credence to false accusations, which leads to confusion, side-tracking us from doing what the Lord is calling us to do.

They said about Jesus, “He is out of his mind.” What does he want you and me to learn from this? If we can realize how funny every false accusation really is, instead of being crushed by them, we will chuckle and turn them into opportunities, like Jesus did. We will push the focus off of ourselves and onto the bigger picture, the more important issue, and the truth that has been hidden from the eyes of our accusers. And we will seek out those who are willing to hear and learn this truth.

When we’re falsely accused, we’re standing on the precipice of a cliff-hanger. The story of our situation is disturbingly short. To get through it with a chuckle instead of angst, we need to put our focus back on Jesus who is inviting us to move beyond the cliff. Here are a few WordBytes that can help; pick one (at least):

• Have your good works been misunderstood?
• Have you been falsely accused?
• Is anyone refusing to accept you for who you really are?
• Is anyone confusing you into believing a lie and compromising your values?
• Are there “pharisees” in your life (people who hurt you while thinking they do God’s will)?
• Are you being persecuted for speaking the truth?
• Are you in need of comfort?

And if you’re a caregiver for someone who is mistreating you through their dementia-driven false accusations, here’s a Caregiver’s Prayer that I wrote from personal experience:

• gnm.org/prayers-when-caring-for-dementia

© 2024 by Terry A. Modica

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