In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” In St. Mark’s Gospel one of the ongoing themes is what scholars call the “messianic secret.” The apostles and others around Jesus just don’t get what he’s about. They are depicted as missing all the signs of his identity. The irony is that Jesus is known and recognzied by the demons! They confess him in ways his disciples won’t until after the Resurrection! All of which serves as a reminder that simply knowing about Jesus is not faith. While it is good and necessary to study the catechism and to read the Bible in itself those activities do not make one a believer. Rather, it is when we move from admiring Jesus to imitating him that we are at least on the road to genuine belief.
