B: 4th Sun of OrdTime (28 Jan 2018) - BE SILENT! - Mk 1:21-28

Our gospel today continues what we heard from last Sunday, the call of the first disciples. Here, Jesus enters the synagogue to teach but what follows is his first miracle in the Gospel of Mark. One key to understanding better the Markan episodes is by looking at the structure of its narratives. Our gospel reflects a concentric or chiastic structure, i.e., some narrative parts are parallel to one another (e.g., A1 is parallel to A2, so is B1 to B2, and C1 to C2) while circumscribing a central passage (D).

A1: "They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught" (v. 21).

B1: "They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (v. 22).

C1: "Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God'" (vv. 23-24).

D: "But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be silent, and come out of him!'" (v. 25).

C2: "And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him" (v. 26).

B2: "They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (v. 27).

A2: "At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee" (v. 28).

The beauty with finding a concentric structure is that it gives right away the focus of the whole narrative: the central part, which in this case is Jesus' silencing of the unclean spirit (D). While the story is about his teaching, it is his act of expulsion that is emphasized. And it is his words therein that matter most. The casting of the unclean spirit is meant to heighten his authority, to magnify the amazement of the people, and to convince them of his lordship.

The latest silencing of Rappler is a blow to freedom of press and expression. The president claimed that there was no malice in its closure; the company was just randomly found violating a SEC-regulation against foreign ownership. However, his separate speeches corroborate his inimical attitude against it, even threatening its closure as early as his July 24, 2017 SONA. As a matter of fact, he also did the same to the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN on separate occasions. As always, his words triumphed. Because of this in the eye of the public, his "authority" is only fortified: Behold, here is a president who has powers even over journalism! What a triumph of the lord against the unclean spirits of fake-news-reporting!

We then see an allegorical correlation between Jesus' silencing of the unclean spirit with Duterte's silencing of Rappler. False. Because Jesus' command "Be silent" is inseparable with the rebuke "Come out of him!" (also in part D). More appropriately, it is free journalism that is commanding self-acclaimed lords to come to their senses, to have a moral conscience, and to remove the uncleanness of their motives. Free journalism is the modern exorcism of evil political desires. Free journalism should never be silenced because in a democratic society, true authority remains with the people, just as Abraham Lincoln defines it: "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people". Can this be the reason why the present administration is so adamant to change the 1987 Constitution: that the democratic character of society be formally removed?

Remember, we gained our independent sovereignty through Rizal's powerful pen. May we not simply cheapen it by allowing it to turn into a syncretic compromising pineapple-pen.

- Rex Fortes, CM