FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Week Four of Ordinary Time
WORD of the DAY
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught… In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 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!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. (Mark 1: 21; 23-25)
How shall I live this Word?
With the healing of the man possessed by an unclean spirit, Mark, whose Gospel will accompany us during this liturgical year (B), begins his account of Jesus’ public life and introduces the basic question in his Gospel: “Who is Jesus”? Two responses come immediately with clarity: Jesus teaches and heals. He is the Teacher and also the Doctor.
He is the Teacher, teaching in the Synagogue. Mark tells us that His teaching struck His listeners with its ‘newness’ so unlike the traditional teaching of the Scribes. He spoke with the authority proper to God. The newness Jesus brings is one of quality, that regenerates, renews, revives. He is the Doctor. He came to free us from every slavery. This is why He can cry out ‘Quiet! Come out of him!’ and the impure spirit frees the man.
Faced with the numerous impure spirits that subjugate people today, we need Jesus’ cry to resound now. All true disciples of the Gospel are called to accept the same challenge: propose again the authority of the Gospel on their life and that of their sisters and brothers. We must cry out the Gospel from the roof tops so that the impure spirits of this paganizing culture that enslave so many Christians today will be cast out and that instead, the new culture of Love and Peace will grow. Jesus teaches us to not have discussions with evil or descend into any kind of compromises but to cut it off immediately.
Jesus, our only Teacher and Doctor, we entrust ourselves to You. Lead us to Your teaching and to the healing of our egoism that enslaves us.
The Voice of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
There is only one Teacher who spoke, and it was made (Ps. 32) and the things He made in silence are worthy of the Father.
________________________________________________________
Leave a Reply