A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint Mark. In the city of Capernaum, that's up in the Northwest corner right by the lakeside, Jesus entered the synagogue. And that synagogue has well, there's let me put it this way. The synagogue at Capernaum has been very well excavated. So whether that was the one that our blessed lord actually visited, we don't know.
So anyway, this was an important town. And Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. Notice, not preach, teach. The people were spellbound by his teaching because he taught with authority and not like the scribes. Now there appeared that day in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit that shrieked, what do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy you us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. Jesus rebuked him sharply. Be quiet. Come out of the man.
At that, the unclean spirit convulsed the man violently, and with a loud shriek came out of him. All who looked on were amazed, and they began to say one to another, what does this mean? A completely new teaching in a spirit of authority? He gives orders to unclean spirits, and even they obey him? From that point on, the reputation of Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee, that's to the north around the lake.
And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Notice the text says that Jesus began to teach. I think it was Toledo, I'm not sure of it, but it's it's in Spain and it's not far from Madrid, that I'm sure of.
I'm also sure that I was there, But I was shown what is supposed to be the oldest extant synagogue in Spain. And it's it's in good shape, still being used. But what impressed me was this, that when you go in, there's the well, the regular hall, and of course there was the to the right, you have something like a tabernacle where the the old law on a scroll is kept. That was on one say, your right side. And on the left was a door, a big open door, and that was the school.
Now, of all the things I remember about the synagogue, this is it. That the scroll, the law, the first five books of the Old Testament, and that's the way it's still kept on a scroll in the synagogues, many of them. That and that received the utmost respect. I mean utmost. That was on the side very with great dignity in a very proper sort of tabernacle, there that was where the law was kept.
But right opposite facing it was a school room. Now the Jews, as far back as we know, have been a literate people. That means they could read and write as far back as we can go. Furthermore furthermore, they have cultivated teaching right down to this present day. Father Lewis has told me more than once how in one of our nearby synagogues, how strict they are about the kids going to Sunday school.
They have no choice, and they pay for it. And unless they unless they fulfill certain requirements, there is no question of them being accepted into the congregation. It's just that's that's how they deal with teaching. Teaching. Now I say again, teaching.
Not running a comic strip, not going through a lot of commotions, not going through a convolutions, not trying to be contemporary, not trying to appeal to the passions, the emotions, the sentiments, but by teaching, appealing to the mind, to the intellect. And they still do it. Even more so. Remember, the irony of the present situation is that here the Catholic church in The United States has built up with with sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears a magnificent educational system which we are which is now going through our fingers like mercury, whereas some of the protestant sects, especially the fundamentalists and Jews, are building up strong educational systems. How do you make what sense can you make of that?
It's a commentary it's a very definite commentary on the thrust of our contemporary Catholicism. In the in the last several years, I've had the unhappy experience of looking at some of our catechisms. You think many of them, they don't pretend to teach. They they have pictures which you nobody on God's earth can see any relationship to the picture and to the text. There's no attempt to give hard, hard information.
No attempt. It's a matter of fact, it's avoided in some of these books. It's supposed to be fun. You do. You act.
In one case I know where where a course of religion was was compensated for by a summer of work in a camp for the underprivileged. I'm perfectly I think it's a great thing to work for the underprivileged, but how in the world is that a substitute for a class in God's religion? Anyway, here's the thrust. It's written while on the wall. I think I see a tendency to come back a bit, but we have a long way to go.
A long way to go. And the future hangs on education, not on fun and games, but on hard education. And anyone who thinks that it's fun to learn algebra, to physics, or biology, or Latin, or Greek, let them try it. And if that's true of any sensible subject appealing to the human mind, why isn't religion in the same category? And above all, if you're a Catholic, we have a content of faith just as the Hebrews.
We are not a religion of the book like the Jews are, but we have a book. We are a religion of the church. We have content. Now whether we like it or not, we have the content. And the first thrust of any course of education is to give content.
Of course, you know, old John Dewey, and we are victims to a great extent of him. You know, that education was to adjust you to life. Well, was John Dewey, and we are reaping now. Now we are reaping the consequences of that idiotic attitude. So our blessed Lord went into that synagogue and taught.
He had a book and he taught as one with authority. And that's how the church teaches. The Catholic church is not an institution of opinion. It teaches with the authority of Jesus Christ. And if it doesn't, it is absolutely the worst institution on God's earth.
That's why I respect people who think that of the church and wanna destroy it. Because you know where they stand, and they're right as far as they as far as their vision goes. Because if the church is not what it says it is, if it is not operating with the authority of Jesus Christ, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, going therefore and teach ye all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them what I have taught you. Notice Jesus didn't turn a book over to them. So he instituted a church, a living church, and that speaks with his authority and with his inspiration.
And anyone, anyone who pretends to be a minister in that church has the absolutely solemn obligation to transmit what the church teaches, not what they think. Let them do that in their learned journals or get out in the marketplace. There's the only obligation of a minister of Christ is to teach what Christ taught. It's very simple. Just that simple.
Except we don't want it that simple. We don't want it that way in many instances today. We we are a divided church today. And I I I presume it's going to that chasm is going to one. So the church stands for truth, the truth must be transmitted.
How do you do it? You do it by education, not by running around on the streets. And that's how we today, the Catholic church, look upon our schools. Do we? Do we?
Look at the facts. One by one they're disappearing. Why? Why? Don't people believe in education anymore?
Well, evidently somebody, someplace, is not accepting, is not persuaded about the importance Catholic education. And remember, the Catholic church has no business in education unless it's Catholic. This is so simple you feel silly saying it. And yet I know what I'm saying is not at all reflecting contemporary views. Plenty of Catholic institutions are no more Catholic than the most non Catholic institution.
We know that. And so today when our blessed Lord, when we see that beautiful picture, it's a lovely area up there in that corner. Caparnum was a very important city in our Lord's day. The remains are are tremendous there, they're still working on it. Some Franciscan friars are there, and the remains are most impressive.
And it's so easy to see Christ coming in there and standing up, teaching with authority, not like the scribes and the pharisees. And notice, you see they the people are impressed before the miracle, whatever this miracle is. I I this business of the possession, I I don't know what what that's all about. But they're impressed by Jesus Christ before he performs whatever that was. Because he spoke with authority.
And the Catholic church teaches not by the reason of man or woman, not by the opinions of the world, not by a consensus of the faithful, not by statistical majorities or minorities or pluralities. The Catholic church teaches with the authority of Jesus Christ. In the name of the father, the son, the holy spirit. Amen.