Leaning Towers

Trying to see and correct our prejudices

Mark 3:22-30 

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property  unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them.

 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

          Do you have a favorite news outlet? There are two news networks that seem to be the most popular, but I don’t want to use their actual name. See if you can figure them out with these two subtle clues. One network rhymes with the word “socks.” And the other one has the same first letters as “Cooper News Network.” Now, I enjoy watching both of them: each has sharp reporters and they both are quick to capture breaking news. But I’ve also noticed that some of their news shows tend to lean either to the right or left on some issues. And some shows not only disagree with those on the other side of the aisle, they even demonize them, trying to make the other side sound ridiculous or revengeful, anything but reasonable. Sadly, this tendency to lean right or left can also be seen in some church news outlets: either liberal or conservative, either progressive or traditional. When their reporting is obviously slanted to one side, I think of the famous “leaning tower of Pisa.” I don’t believe they will ever fix that tower and make it perfectly erect. Why? Well, because then people would stop visiting Pisa, Italy. Sometimes, people like to see you lean.

          In the gospel today, there’s no question which way the scribes were leaning in their opinion about Jesus. Mark writes: “The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘By the prince of demons he drives out demons’.” Like we see how some media sources lean right or lean left, it was painfully obvious how many Jewish leaders vilified and down-right demonized Jesus, quite literally saying he was possessed by a demon. They were similar to the leaning tower of Pisa, and some people wanted to see them lean. Of course, we know all Jewish leaders were not prejudiced against Jesus, notably, Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus, who came to Our Lord at night.

          Today, ask yourself the question: do I tend to lean in one direction or the other? Quite naturally, we all like to think our own position and opinion is perfectly upright, while others are biased and lean to one side. So, today, just like the scientist Galileo supposedly dropped two objects from the tower of Pisa to conduct his experiment on gravity, here are 3 questions to test how far your opinion leans. First, when you disagree with someone do you demonize them, also called “character assassination”? When it becomes personal, you’re probably leaning to one side. Second, before you criticize an opponent, can you state their position clearly and intelligently, without any bias? St. Thomas Aquinas always articulated his opponent’s arguments before stating his own. And he often did it better than that could! And third, can you pray for those who disagree and demonize you? If you’re Republican, can you pray for Democrats? If you’re an Atlanta Falcons fan, can you pray for the Patriots? Remember how Jesus prayed for those who crucified him while he hung on the Cross?

          Folks, no one is perfectly perpendicular. We all lean to one side or the other like the Tower of Pisa, and maybe secretly, we kind of like the way we lean. Why? Well, because if we were perfectly perpendicular, we’d look like the Cross.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!