Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 18:6-9.19:1-7; Mark 3:7-12)
An old movie tells the story of a single mother of two
sons. The woman’s husband abandoned his
family and eventually went off to war where he was severely injured. He came back so disfigured that he could not
be recognized. The man watched over his
wife and sons from a distance without anyone knowing. One night his wife was assaulted by two
men. The man intervened to save her but
was fatally stabbed to death in the process.
Only then did the woman identify her rescuer as her husband.
Like the husband in the movie, Jesus in today’s gospel does
not want his identity known. He forbids
the unclean spirit from revealing that he is the Son of God. Later, when Peter has the insight to call him
“Messiah,” he and the other disciples will also be told not to let the word out. If the people knew that Jesus was the Son of
God, they would want to make themselves into an army with him as head. But they would not know the extent of God’s love
for them. Only after his death will the
people realize that Jesus died on the cross so that their sins could be
forgiven. In fact, when he dies, the
Roman centurion announces, “Truly this man was God’s son.”
The husband in the movie knew that if he tried to go back to
his wife as deformed as he was, nobody would believe that he cared about his family. He had to show everyone his love by dying to
save his wife. Jesus does the same for
us and wants us to make sacrifices out of love for one another.
