Excusing oneself by accusing someone else – this is as old as the world, it seems!
Today’s Scripture texts are inviting us to reflect on this.
The 1st reading reminds us of the well-known story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9-15).
Questioned by God about their misdeed, the man accuses his wife while she, in turn, accuses the serpent.
And in today’s gospel, we meet the Scribes challenging Jesus (Mark 3:20-25).
Unable to accept Jesus as having the power of God, they accuse him of being possessed by Satan. 
They claim that he is casting out devils by Beelzebul, the prince of devils.
The daily news broadcast is full of examples of such attitudes: blaming others and failing to accept one’s responsibility.
Or, refusing to accept the good accomplished by someone fearing that it overshadows one’s reputation.
We can lament such duplicity, dishonesty, lack of transparency.
It seems that there is plenty of deceitfulness and double-dealing in our world,
But… we should turn our look inwards and ask ourselves whether we are immune to such behavior.
In the text of the scene related in the 1st reading we see that:
“The man and his wife… hid from the Lord in the trees of the garden”.
“The Lord called to the man: ‘Where are you?’
‘I heard the sound of you in the garden’;
he replied “I was afraid’…”
Hiding out of fear may be a natural reaction for many of us…
We may still be on the way to a more mature acknowledgement of what we do…
Hiding, pretending, scapegoating – all too human, some may say…
Less than truly human – it should be said…
Less than authentically Christ-like…
Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/10e-dimanche-de-lannee-b-2024/
