The Conversation: The science of gossip, March 30, 2017.

Click here to read today’s Sunday Mass Readings.

In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”     Mark 1:23-24.

Click on words highlighted in red for more information.

Pope Francis certainly has a knack of saying things that go viral in seconds. In September 2013, for example, he let his opinion about gossip be known, even published in the papal newspaper Osservatore Romano. He pulled no punches; the opening line states, “Gossip is a weapon and it threatens the human community every day; it sows envy, jealousy and power struggles. It has even caused murder”. The picture above gives some small idea of what he is talking about. Some poor soul seems to be the butt of a rumor perhaps of a scandal going about, against which, of course, she is defenseless. But what is my point? In today’s gospel set in the synagogue in Capernaum, I think there is a clear potential of Jesus becoming what Pope Francis would deem the butt of malicious gossip in today’s gospel. The possessed man, mentioned in the quote above, is stating the truth. Indeed, Jesus IS the Holy One Of God, but… Releasing that news at the very beginning of Jesus’ mission would have been disastrous. Jesus immediately expelled the evil spirit, and with it the message which had the power to ruin his mission. Why? Well, the prevailing idea about the long-awaited Messiah in the Holy Land at that time was one of military might, he astride his mighty horse, able to expel by the sword the unclean, pagan, barbarian Roman occupiers for good, and restore the kingdom of David. That was hardly a description of the Lord! Once everyone came to the realization through gossip that he was not their idea of the Messiah, he would indeed have been the butt of whispers for evermore and his vocation ruined. Of course his ability to expel the evil spirit certainly showed he had extraordinary power, but in that solitary case, it tied in with his mission, the conquest of evil. Following his vocation in the way God wanted it would fulfill Moses’ prophesy in the first reading. Hence Jesus wished to obey God’s will for him, not through the crazed revelation of an evil devil who, though speaking the truth, intended to crush Jesus’ mission at the very beginning. So, in expelling that evil spirit Jesus was indeed beginning his mission in the right way, combating that which was not of God in the way that was of God. 

And so it must be for all of us. If we hear of a juicy piece of gossip concerning one of our neighbors or a co-worker in the office, what should we do? The temptation to pass it on is almost overwhelming, but in doing that, the contagion would spread. Even if the juicy “news” is true, what good would it do to spread it? Wouldn’t that make things worse for the person being targeted? What if we were in those shoes? And I would not be surprised if many of us have secret truths we would prefer to remain untouched, let alone the subject of gossip. Jesus knew that his version of the Messiah was completely at odds with the prevailing, and universally accepted, idea of the Messiah being the one who would rid the country of the ruling and hated Gentile Romans and reign as the new King David. It is easy to accept the first reading, the passage from Deuteronomy, in that light, and almost everyone did. No-one would see in the figure of the holy man from Nazareth the New David! So Jesus had to crush the evil spirit’s message immediately. Jesus wanted people to come to the truth in their own, unique, way, not in muffled whispers from one to another with laughter as the conclusion. That was the danger, and it was avoided.

So from this, Pope Francis’ condemnation of gossip makes a great deal of sense. Gossip had the potential strength to destroy even Jesus’ divine mission. It was saved right there in that synagogue in Capernaum, the ruins of which are still visible in Galilee to this day:

The Remains of the Synagogue at Capernaum in Galilee, Israel, September 2018.

It is thought Jesus walked on the older black stone floor beneath the later sculpted white stone.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS REFLECTION TO THOSE YOU THINK WOULD APPRECIATE IT.

THANK YOU.

Reflections on next Sunday’s Mass Readings will be posted on Wednesday.

Please send your reactions to: RogerJohn@aol.com

© SundayMassReadings.com