Carmelite homily for Thursday, March 7, 2024 – Lectionary 240 (Luke 11:14-23)
The Greek word for ball is “bolus.” And so “diabolus” means to make into two balls. That’s where we get our word “diabolical” from – to take a ball and split it. Diabolical means ‘of the devil.’ “Devil” is just a short form of “diabolus.” In today’s gospel, Jesus has healed a mute man and the Pharisees charge him with being “diabolus” – Beelzebub! That he is dividing, but they’re the ones. Pharisee actually means, literally, the separated ones. Where Jesus’ message and mission is to reconnect, to rejoin. That’s what religion means – re-ligio – to connect, like ligament. And so that’s why Jesus closes the gospel saying that if you’re not with him, you’re against him; if you’re not gathering with him, you’re scattering. Because his mission is to recombine, to make whole, to make well, to make full. If you’re not doing that, you’re “diabolus” – pulling into two. That’s the key here: are we dividing or are we joining?
