"Wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer."
--St. John Chrysostom
"Wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer."
--St. John Chrysostom
January 31, 2021
Fourth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 71
Moses spoke to all the people, saying:
“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen.
This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said,
‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,
nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’
And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.
Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name
an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,
or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’”
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8) If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading 2 1 Cor 7:32-35
Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.
An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord.
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.
A married woman, on the other hand,
is anxious about the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
I am telling you this for your own benefit,
not to impose a restraint upon you,
but for the sake of propriety
and adherence to the Lord without distraction.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit
in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling
in a land overshadowed by death,
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
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.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
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The Authority of Jesus
This Sunday's Gospel reading illustrates the authority of Jesus. If we truly accept and understand his authority over our lives, we can rejoice in the Lord even when life hands us hardships.
Why? Because we know that Christ's authority is supreme, which means that everything we've placed under his authority will produce good fruits. Even bad situations will be transformed into blessings. Tragedies will be changed into triumphs. Sorrows will be transfigured into joy. Frustrations will lay the groundwork for new growth, new knowledge, and a greater ability to minister to others.
However, if we reject Christ's authority by acting as if we're the ones in charge, deciding for ourselves how to end a problem or how and when to escape from a hardship, our problems will only get worse. Pope Francis wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Gospel of Joy (Evangelii Gaudium, paragraph 64) that this leads to a feeling of disorientation instead of joy. He noted: "We are living in an information-driven society which bombards us indiscriminately with data -- all treated as being of equal importance -- and which leads to remarkable superficiality in the area of moral discernment. In response, we need to provide an education which teaches critical thinking and encourages the development of mature moral values."
The path to joy has been forged by the footsteps of Jesus. To benefit from his authority over evil and over human sufferings, we have to follow his example and obey his teachings. This means choosing to trust him, realizing that his ways are the best ways even when they're unpleasant ways. It means that we're willing to reach resurrection glory by going through the cross with Jesus.
There are no successful shortcuts to the triumphant victory that awaits us. There is no easy way to overcome evil. If this were not true, Jesus wouldn't have needed to die on a cross.
The good news -- the reason why we can rejoice -- is that the most loving, most powerful, most wise One in the universe is using his supreme authority on our behalf. The question is: Will we submit to it?
In what ways are you still rejecting Christ's authority by trying to do things your own way? Which Church teachings have you been rejecting because you've decided to live by your own rules? Are you willing to ask the Holy Spirit to change your mind on these matters and teach you the value of Christ's ways?
In what ways do Christians often reject
Christ's authority in favor of defining their own rules? Why? What are the
apparent risks to living completely under Christ's strict authority? How can we
replace these risks with a sense of safety?
Today's Prayer
Thank You, Jesus, for facing evil and defeating it on the Cross! I apologize for the times that, without knowing how much I hurt myself, I wrote my own laws and rejected Your Love. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
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