HOMILY FROM CANON STEPHEN BAILLIE
Corpus Christi B21
‘He has gone out of his mind’
In the Gospel today, we read that Jesus has returned home and causes quite a commotion on his arrival. Word about this healer and teacher has gotten around, the crowds have gathered, and the religious leaders are not happy. Jesus’ growing popularity has started to upset daily life for his family to the point where ‘they could not eat’. In an effort to protect their son and their brother, Jesus’ family try to explain away his ‘unruly’ behaviour. They tell the crowd and the religious leaders that Jesus does not mean what he says, he has simply ‘gone out of his mind’,
In their view, things have gone too far. Jesus was preaching a message that seemed radical to many. He knows that bringing about God’s dream for the world involves speaking out and behaving in ways that are counter cultural. The religious leaders go so far as to say that Jesus was possessed by a demon. It was their way of ‘explaining away’ someone that they could not cope with, someone who was challenging their systems and practices. We can think of those in society today who are ‘explained away’; those whom society wishes would stop speaking out because it is uncomfortable to listen to Name-calling is often a last resort when institutions or ‘powers’ are disgruntled. The young climate activist, Greta Thunberg, knows this well. Following taunts by Presidents and Fossil Fuel executives towards her, she famously said, ‘When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go … and then you know you’re winning.’
The end of today’s Gospel is troubling as Jesus seems to dismiss his mother, his brothers and sisters. But Jesus’ mission is now wider than his immediate family. It is not that he no longer cares for them, God’s vision and Jesus’ vision for this world are now one. As sometimes happens in life, we have to let go of certain things in order to follow our true path.
