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.”
— Mark 3:22-30
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about the “unforgivable sin” of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. But what does that mean?
In Catholic teaching, blaspheming the Holy Spirit means hardening one's heart against God's mercy—exemplified by the scribes' prideful rejection of Christ's miracles, calling the Spirit's good works demonic.
They claim he’s using an “unclean spirit”, thus showcasing just how twisted —or malicious— their understanding is, that they call objectively good things (like the expulsion of demons) bad.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states it plainly: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”1
On a practical note, we can learn from today’s Gospel to discern spirits correctly, by attributing evidently good works like healings and conversions to the Holy Spirit, and to embrace the forgiveness of all sins through repentance and confession, so as not to make the grave mistake of letting our hearts become hard as stone.
May the Holy Spirit guide you, illuminate you, and sanctify you.
In Christ,
Juan — Simple Man
Thank you for reading, and God bless you!
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Beautiful reflection full of wisdom. Thank you.
This is a wonderful reminder. We just sang at mass yesterday ‘You will know we are Christians by our love.’ Good works bear good fruits, thus we can know it is from the Holy Spirit!