Jan 23 2006

Mk 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.”
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is something that I have grappled to understand. Three weeks ago while reading Ronald Rolheiser's Forgotten Among the Lilies, I had an "aha" moment. He describes blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as our lying to ourselves. I cannot see my sins if I am not honest with myself. If I am hidden from myself in self deceit or defenses that cover who I am to myself then I cannot see enough to know what sins I need to ask forgiveness for. I cannot totally be open to God because I cannot be totally open to myself. It is a revelation for me and a point of an area of work for greater awareness to leave the sin and falsehood behind. God will lead me to more light on this with prayer. I also pray that others will show me the ways that I am not honest with myself and that I will hear them.