Hollowell:  Sunday 1 February 2009-01-31
Mark Chapter 1. 21-28
A prayer from St. Augustine
Lord, light up the small duties of this life. May they shine with the beauty of your countenance. May we believe that glory can shine in the commonest tasks of the day. 
Amen.
Those of you who are not avid readers of The Sun may have missed a fascinating story that was spread over three pages on Friday about a ghost stalking the wards and corridors of the Royal Hospital,  Derby a black cloaked figure believed to be that of a Roman soldier perhaps killed on the spot .  The paper reported that the staff had been “scared witless” by the apparition whilst the Management opined more prosaically  “ If we receive information from Staff we always take it seriously. We are working with the hospital’s chaplaincy to put people’s minds at ease.”   The Sun in time honoured tradition ran the story under the arresting headline  “Surgical Spirit”.  A priest it claimed had been called in to exorcise the spirit. 
The Today Programme brought a more authoritative intellect to bear on  the problem in the form of the redoubtable Dom Antony Sutch a former head of Downside School and now a parish preist in Suffolk.  He can always be relied up on to attract attention.  Here is a recent report on his activities from The Times newspaper 
“ Forgotten to recycle any newspapers or tin cans recently? Feeling guilty because you neglected to carbon offset your flight to somewhere, anywhere, outside England this summer?
The Roman Catholic Church is at hand with a new line in “green confessions” to help eco-sinners to find forgiveness.
Dom Anthony Sutch, the Benedictine monk who resigned as head of Downside School to become a parish priest in Suffolk, will be at the county’s Waveney Greenpeace festival this weekend to hear eco-confessions in what is thought to be the first dedicated confessional booth of its kind.
Vested in a green chasuble-style garment made from recycled curtains, and in a booth constructed of recycled doors, he will hear the sins of those who have not recycled the things they ought to have done and who have consumed the things they ought not to have done. 
Confronted with the story of the apparition at Derby Royal Hospital, Dom Anthony said that he was quite convinced that it had indeed appeared.  Enough serious people had reported it.  Moreover he was also convinced that some apparitions represented the “power of evil” whilst others were simply lost souls without evil intent.  Well, he was quite dogmatic. 
And the hospital’s chaplain?  She would neither confirm nor deny the whole story to the BBC.   
Which brings me by a somewhat roundabout route to our reading from St. Mark to-day.   Mark has just told us about the calling of Peter (“Simon”, v.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A16"  16 ), Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee. Our passage tells us of the recognition of Jesus’ authority, both in word and deed. He and his disciples go to Capernaum, a prosperous town on the Sea of Galilee. A synagogue was where Jews met to gain a fuller understanding of their tradition through study and worship. (At the time, it was probably not a building set apart for study and worship.) 
Anyone with sufficient knowledge could teach. The “scribes” (v.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A22"  22 ) were specialists in the interpretation and application of Mosaic law to daily life. They frequently quoted scripture, but Jesus (on this occasion) does not: he speaks directly, confident of his authority.
The “man with an unclean spirit” (v.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A23"  23 ) was, in our terms, possessed: he was under the influence of evil forces. In Jewish terms, he was under Satan’s direction, separated from God. The devil, speaking through this man (v.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A24"  24 ), asks what Jesus is doing meddling in the domain of evil; he recognizes who Jesus is and that his coming spells the end of the devil’s power. He understands the significance of the coming Kingdom. Wonder-workers of the day healed using ritual or magic, but Jesus exorcises simply through verbal command (v.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A25"  25 ), so clearly he is divine. V.   HYPERLINK "http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=nrs&word=Mark+1%3A27"  27 , on the lips of the crowd, acknowledges Jesus’ authority in word and deed.
That, I think,  is broadly the standard interpretation of the passage. Since I have never seen anyone “ppossessed of the devil” in the way described it’s hard to other than present the facts as they are reported. I don’t have Dom Anthony Sutch’s certainty.
Certainly Jesus performs many other such exorcisms – that relating to the Gadarene swine being perhaps the most spectacular.  And it is seems clear from the many such stories throughout the ages that possession by spirits does happen.  There is in this diocese an officially appointed exorcist.  And  while the services of an exorcist are only rarely needed, and in many cases there is apparently a conventional explanation for the phenomenon that required his/her services.
What is also true according to what I read and hear is that we are only on the threshold of understanding the workings of the human mind.   But it does seem clear too that mental disturbances can in some cases be alleviated or even cured by religious faith.  
I know this from my own experience. Some eyars ago I met a man who was clearly on the verge of mental breakdown, brought on by his experiences of life. 
16 years in prison.  Living in a van.  Drugs and drink.  Sleeping in skips. Lost his family. Always raging.  He had mental demons and ended up in St. Andrews.  I didn’t know how ot handle him except by being myself, unfazed, laid back but letting him know I cared about him.  
Occasionally I talked about my Christian faith.  James not interested.  He disappeared.
Two years later  he calls me out of the blue.   “ Merrick I’ve become a Christian”
Changed man. Canoe.
