Mk 1:21-28
During this election year, many pundits will try to play the role
of prophet and try to predict the outcome of the mid-term elections. In
contrast to that, the role of a "prophet” in scripture was not necessarily
one who tells the future but one who speaks God's Word.
In today's first reading, Moses says that after he has departed,
God would provide the people with prophets who will speak to the people in God's
name, just as Moses did. Of course, the great prophet to come would be Jesus
who was God's Word made flesh. After the Lord returned to the Father, He left
behind a church to be the prophet and speak in His name. In every generation,
the church would speak and apply God's Word to the world around it. The church
would always be the place where the Word of the Lord would be present. "I
will raise up for them a prophet and I will put my words into his mouth."
These words are fulfilled in Jesus and now in His church.
That is why, to extend today's second reading from St. Paul, the church
must remain unmarried — unmarried to any political party, ideology or political
system. The Church is called to speak the truth of Christ. We must do what we
can to enable the church to keep that freedom.
The church is also called to continue Jesus' ministry that we see
in today's Gospel as Jesus casts out an evil spirit. The church uses its
sacramental power to cast out the spirits of greed, lust, selfishness, hate,
racism and anything that defaces human dignity, including evil spirits
themselves. How does the Church do that today?
There is, of course, the preaching of the church that goes on in
churches every Sunday and, usually every day. There is the sacramental life of
the church. There are also institutions like Catholic Charities that the church
uses to extend the compassion of Christ.
One of these institutions that is used to extend the reach of the
Gospel is the Catholic school. Today, we begin Catholic Schools Week when we
highlight the work being done in Catholic schools throughout our nation.
About a century and a half ago, the bishops of the United States
made a huge multi-decade commitment to establish a Catholic school system. One
reason was that most of the public schools at that time were imbued with an
anti-Catholic Protestantism that manifested itself in teaching and in prayers
in the public schools. The bishops decreed that every parish, to the extent it
can, shall have a parochial school. In fact, the school was to be built before
the church to indicate the high priority they gave to Catholic education. Today
we are the heirs of that commitment with 6,000 parochial schools and about 2
million students. The Catholic school strives to be a community where young
people can be identifiably Catholic, can learn the faith and learn how to be a
Christian.
Today, parochial schools have many more costs than they had years
ago. Still, they strive to be part of fulfilling the mission of Jesus. With our
support they will. The future of our nation and our church is not in the stars
but in our classrooms.
Fr. Krempa is pastor of St. Bridget of Ireland Church in
Berryville.