Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time B
Who are some of the authority figures you encounter in your
ordinary, day-to-day life? Police,
judges, teachers, doctors, parents, spouse—the list could go on and on. From where do they get their
authority? Some from the law or an
election, some from their superior knowledge, some from a “higher power.” But none of them have authority on their
own; it’s borrowed, if you will, from another.
Such was the case among the rabbis and scribes of Jesus’
day. When preaching and teaching,
they would always make an appeal to the authorities. “My mentor, Rabbi Frank, used to say…” “Rabbi Bob, at the next synagogue over,
has always taught…” Of course,
beyond citing other scholars, they would also invoke the authority of the
Sacred Scriptures—the Law and the Prophets—with especial reverence for the
words of Moses. The people in the
synagogue that Sabbath were astonished because “he taught them as one having
authority.” We don’t know the details
of that particular sermon, but on a number of other occasions we hear Jesus
say, “You have heard it said…but I say to you….” His authority was all his own.
When someone speaks with that sort of authority, you sit up
straight and pay attention.
Does Jesus still have that same authority? Yes. Is he still speaking?
Yes. But are we paying
attention?
When was the last time you heard the voice of the Lord? (You might be thinking, “I’d better be
careful how I answer this question or I’ll end up in therapy!”)
There are some usual, dependable, recognized places where we
can always hear the Lord speaking.
One of them is through the Scriptures. We don’t believe that the Bible is just
ink on a page, preserving dead words from the distant past; instead, we believe
it is the living word of God, which still has plenty to say to you and me
today. That’s why, as a parish
priest, one of the most distressing things I regularly see is people reading
their bulletins during the first part of the Mass—preferring to browse the
announcements rather than give their full attention to God as he’s speaking. When God speaks, we should sit up
straight and listen.
Another dependable place to hear the Lord’s voice is in the
teaching of the Church. The Church
is not merely a human institution, but is in fact the Body of Christ, guided by
the Holy Spirit. Now, I’m not
referring here to mere offhanded comments or the personal opinions of the
clergy—whether it’s a deacon, a priest, a bishop, or even the pope. But when the Church officially teaches
on matters of faith and morals, she does so with an authority given her by
Jesus Christ. With Jesus’ own
authority the Church applies what the Lord has said in the past to our lives
today. And so when the Church
teaches, we ought to really pay attention.
Yet another place we can expect to regularly hear the voice
of the Lord is in the lives and writings of the saints. The friends of God, who have given
flesh and blood to the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Church, are a
loud and clear message to you and me of the holiness to which we have all been
called. Get to know the saints and
you’ll come to recognize the sounds of God’s voice.
But God also can—and often does—speak to us in some
unexpected, unusual ways. Maybe
it’s through the words of the book you’re reading or a song that comes over the
radio; maybe it’s in conversation with a stranger or while gazing upon a
sunset; maybe it’s in silence or in the sound of a baby’s cry (which is why I
think we ought to let the children speak, even if it’s loudly and in the middle
of the homily).
But we won’t ever hear the voice of the Lord if we aren’t
listening for it. And what we hear
won’t matter a bit if we don’t take his authority seriously.
Who in that synagogue in Capernaum takes the authority of
Jesus most seriously? The demon! The
unclean spirit knows who Jesus really is and fully recognizes his absolute authority. The spirit hates to do it, but he can’t
resist. For the forces of evil, this
is a losing battle. They must obey.
But we have a choice when we stand before Jesus, when we
hear his word. Jesus came to
destroy the sway of the devil and his minions. But us? Jesus
came to save us. Yet we can only
be saved if we’re willing: willing to acknowledge Jesus identity; willing to
recognize his authority; willing to follow him; willing to obey.
Jesus is still speaking. Listen carefully, and you’ll be amazed.
* * *
After Holy Communion:
Jesus is just as present to us here and now as he was on
another Sabbath long ago in that synagogue in Capernaum—present to us today in
the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.
And Jesus is still speaking, Jesus is still teaching. During these few moments of silence,
let us still our hearts and minds so we can give our full attention to the
voice of the Lord as he speaks to us again.
No comments:
Post a Comment