“A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:24).

We see it in politics and also see it in today’s gospel reading from St. Mark: “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Jesus is quoted as saying this in three of the gospels (in Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

In the gospel for today, we see the scribes looking upon Jesus as Satan and attributing His powers to the Prince of Darkness.

We also see Christ’s (and our) mother, Mary, referred to in the text. As sin entered the world through the Original Sin of Adam and Eve in our first reading, now, through Jesus (who is the New Adam) and with the help of Mary (the New Eve), that sin is wiped away. Those who believe in God and carry out His will are the ones who will be regarded as the mother, brother and sister of Christ (in our Gospel).

Unlike “in the beginning,” as husband and wife (in the first reading), when God visited the garden and discovered their wrongdoings, God wants unity among His people because once divisions enter into the home or the Church, everything becomes weaker.

“That is part of what stewardship demands of us. There are times when each of us must place his or her personal preferences to the side for the good of the group. That is never easy to do, but to be the kind of community we wish to be and need to be it is absolutely necessary” (www.catholicsteward.com).

“We have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven” (2 Cor 5:1b).

St. Paul really had a way with prosaic words. His letters help to explain the gospels and also the Old Testament readings. During his lifetime, many felt Paul’s life was a waste and a failure. At the height of his success in life, he chose to leave it for a career that from our perspective is much higher. We view Paul as the great evangelizer and the equivalent of an apostle, who left a comfortable life for a life of real hardship, suffering and persecution.

St. Paul’s message to us and to the Corinthians in our reading today is that living faith creates proof. Paul believed deeply that God had a purpose in his sufferings and he too embraced and truly believed in resurrection.

All the terrible things he faced—and all the trials we may face—are nothing in comparison to the life that is to come. Suffering can destroy us; it could have destroyed Paul, but he saw and recognized that we tend to only see what is before us—and not the unseen, eternal things. That is where his focus was and where our focus needs to be — not the present but the future, eternal things of Heaven.

Ryan Wiensch is our Summer Seminarian, and he arrived here at Blessed Sacrament Parish last Monday and will be with us for most of June and July. Please God, Ryan will make a great future priest.

Fr. Kilian, our Deacons, our great Parish Staff, Disciples and Wonderful Volunteers.

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