Commentary Liturgy 10th Sunday in O.T. (9 June 2024)

1. There are two fundamental choices possible in life: to live according to God or to choose to do without God. This is the fundamental option, a decision that originates in the very centre of the person, from the heart, seen as the nucleus of his personality. Fundamental decision that conditions all other choices because it is the basic orientation that concerns the whole of existence. The book of Genesis (chapters 2-3) speaks of this, presenting Adam and Eve in symbolic language in the garden of Eden entrusted to them by God with the task of cultivating and guarding it. At the centre of this garden is the tree of life and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", that is, the secret of the knowledge of what makes man happy or deprives him of happiness. And here is God's delivery: 'you may eat of all the trees in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for on the day you eat of it you will surely have to die'.  The truth expressed here is that God created the human person, enriched him with intelligence and free will, and fixed what is good and vital for him. Wanting to define for ourselves in a radical way what is good or bad for us means making ourselves creators of ourselves and in other words wanting to make ourselves similar to God. In the divine plan, the reason for human happiness is God himself adhering to his will, because we are created to live in harmony with him. In his book 'Recognising God at the Centre of Life', a meditation text for the entire liturgical year, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Protestant theologian and pastor who died by hanging on 9 April 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Germany, writes that 'to understand each morning in a new way the ancient faithfulness of God, to be able to begin a new life in the company of God every day: this is the gift that God gives us at the dawning of each day'.  

God's original plan was, however, undermined by the tempter serpent who, with deceitful cunning, provoked Eve by insinuating that God had forbidden her to eat of every tree in the garden. The woman rightly replied that according to the Creator's delivery, the fruit of every tree can be eaten, except that of the knowledge of good and evil. She is saying something right, but without realising it she came into contact with the serpent, bewitched by the prospect of becoming like God without needing God and with a simple magic gesture, and allowed herself to be convinced: she took the fruit and ate it, sharing it with Adam, later acknowledging: 'The serpent deceived me and I ate'.  

Beyond the symbolic language, a fundamental truth is spoken here: by detaching himself from God, man runs the risk of no longer even understanding himself and others. The consequence was indeed dramatic: the eyes of both opened and they realised that they were naked and ashamed of each other, compromising the harmonious transparency of their relationship. Satan succeeded in deceiving human beings and ruining the original harmony of creation.

2. From this biblical episode we can draw some useful considerations: human life will now be subject to the temptations of the Evil One, who will try in every way to separate man from his Creator. However perverse human nature may become, the Bible teaches that evil is not intrinsic to man; rather, it is external to him, and only when he allows himself to be seduced and deceived does it open up dangerous paths of sadness and unhappiness for him. After original sin, life is a struggle for everyone and throughout the entire history of salvation, the prophets have always warned the chosen people against Satan's deceptive seductions. But God does not abandon the human creature to himself: where there is sin, divine mercy shines even more brightly. God condemns the serpent: "Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou among all cattle and among all wild beasts". He curses evil, and his wrath in the Bible is always against that which destroys man, since evil does not come from God, nor is it essentially part of human nature. Adam and Eve's aspiration to be like God was quite right and it is also ours, since the Creator has structured us in his image and likeness and the divine breath is our breath. Under Satanic deception, however, our progenitors believed it to be their own achievement to be like God and not a free gift to be cultivated in trusting harmony with him. The adherence of the progenitors to the serpent's temptation has made us all susceptible to evil. But all is not lost, for God addressing the serpent assures him: 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed: she shall crush your head and you shall bruise her heel'.  A struggle is therefore envisaged, the outcome of which is already known: it will ultimately be Christ who will win and evil will never have the last word.  Christian theology defines this text from Genesis (3:15) with the term proto-gospel and considers it a prophecy of the future Messiah, called here 'the offspring of the woman', who would redeem humanity itself, snatching it from the condemnation it deserved because of the sin it had committed. God, who never abandons the human creature that has come out of his hands, manifests in this way his infinite mercy, just as he, in condemning humanity, had manifested his justice.

3. "O Father, who sent your Son to deliver man from the power of Satan, increase in us faith and true freedom". So we pray at the beginning of Mass on this Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem humanity from the bondage of evil. Let us better understand this message of hope by analysing today's page of Mark's gospel. Strangely enough, the behaviour and miracles performed by Jesus appear to some as surprising, even shocking, and everyone tries to come up with an explanation: Jesus is mad for his relatives, whereas for the religious authorities he has even made a pact with the devil. Jesus does not argue with those who think he is a madman, but takes seriously the accusation that he is possessed by the devil. And so we reason: if unity is strength, a family or a group divided within itself will be easy prey for enemies. If, therefore, you say that I cast out demons through their leader Beelzebul, it means that Satan is working against himself, and then he will easily go to ruin. Then follows a short parable that we find more common in Luke's gospel (11:14-26): "No one can enter the house of a strong man and plunder his possessions unless he first binds him. Only then can he plunder his house'.  The strong man in this case is Satan, and if Jesus becomes master of the house having expelled the demons, it means that he is stronger than Satan: he is the triumphant over evil. In the first reading, victory was foretold, and here Jesus presents himself as the one who achieves it. But then follows a warning: "Verily I say unto you, all things shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, sins, and also all blasphemies that they shall utter: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven for ever: he is guilty of eternal guilt. Once again, we are reassured that God's mercy is infinite, and the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart that we celebrated last Friday reminded us of this well.

4. There is, however, an unforgivable sin that Jesus calls blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of the gospel Mark recounts that Jesus' fame had spread throughout the region, reaching as far as Jerusalem: he healed the sick and those possessed by the devil were set free. Healings and especially expulsion of demons were signs that the kingdom of God had come (cf. Luke 11:20).  However, some scribes and doctors of the law were so far from God that they did not recognise the Lord's work in these wonders. And it is precisely this attitude that is targeted by the Lord because it is that of Satan, the serpent who insinuated to Adam and Eve that God was cheating them because he did not love them. Jesus is not far from treating the scribes as poisonous snakes, he condemns their attitude because they do not recognise God's work. Attributing evil and deceitful intentions to God, that is what Jesus calls "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit". In fact, the very moment Jesus heals or expels a demon, the scribes treat him as a demon himself, instead of recognising him as the victor over Satan. It is the rejection of love, and love can only give itself if it is accepted. Jesus defines this sin as unforgivable: not because it is God who refuses his love and forgiveness, but because it is the hearts of the hermetically closed scribes that become refractory, that is, indifferent, insensitive, unwilling, deaf, to God's love.  And the conclusion of today's gospel makes us realise who the true friends and family of Christ are: 'He who does the will of God, this one is brother and sister and mother to me'.  In the background, these words from the prologue of the Fourth Gospel sound like a warning: "He came among his own, and his own did not receive him. To those who received him, however, he gave power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12). 

A question to close: how many today, by welcoming Christ into their lives, are sincerely willing to fight against the satanic serpent that continues to deceive humanity in so many ways? 

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

P.S. "My dear Malacoda, I note with deep regret that your patient has become a Christian. Do not entertain any hope of escaping the punishments that are usually inflicted in such cases'. Here is a passage from the book I recommend: "The Letters of Berlicche (original title The Screwtape Letters), an epistolary tale written by C.S. Lewis and first published in 1942.

An experienced and highly efficient Satan's official, Berlicche sends his young nephew Malacoda, a devil's apprentice, a series of letters to instruct him in the art of conquering (and damning) his 'patient'. Every manifestation of life, from thought to prayer, from love to friendship, from amusement to social life, from pleasure to work and war: everything is distorted for devilish purposes and becomes an expedient to lose men. The book is very short - just over a hundred pages - and is presented as an epistolary of Berlicche, a long-time devil, in dialogue with his young nephew Malacoda. Of the exchange, as the title suggests, we have only the part of Berlicche. Lewis, in order not to make the reader lose his bearings, opens each of the letters of Berlicche by having the devil give a small summary of what he received from his nephew Malacoda. A good device to make the narrative thread more linear. Before the letters we find a preface in which the author declares that he does not wish to narrate the circumstances in which he received the epistolary and takes the opportunity to remind readers that the Devil is a liar and invites them not to believe Berlicche. Finally, he states that the letters were not put in chronological order so there may be some temporal inconsistencies. Despite the brevity of the book, The Letters of Berlicche are not easy to digest. The pages are filled with elements of philosophy, morality, ethics and religion. God - or The Enemy, as he is called - is the villain of the story. He is a deity who does not really care about mankind but who, because of the way he has constructed his 'marketing', has passed off messages such as charity and mercy. Berlicche's goal is to raise Malacoda as a skilled devil capable of perpetrating the art of temptation and leading his victims astray (good from their point of view). It does so by giving advice and delving into the mechanisms not only of the human mind but also of how temptation itself works. Taking into account the complex themes, the Letters of Berlicche offer a reflection on man, sin and the Christian-Catholic religion. It is a small treatise hidden beneath an apparently light narrative mode but concealing a depth of content difficult to find in other works by Clive Staples Lewis.

*Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 29 November 1898. His career began by teaching English Language and Literature at Oxford University, where he became a close friend of the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. With Tolkien and others (including Charles Williams) he founded the informal literary circle of the 'Inklings'. C.S. Lewis is not only known for The Chronicles of Narnia series (consisting of 7 books), but also for his books of religious reflection: Christianity As It Is and Surprised by Joy. Also in the wake of fantasy, C.S. Lewis produced a trilogy, written between 1938 and 1945, consisting of the volumes Far from the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Force. Clive Staples Lewis died in Oxford on 22 November 1963.