In today's Gospel reading the sacred writer speaks about
the authority of the Lord. The reading is taken from the first chapter of the
earliest of the Gospels, the Gospel of Mark. Jesus begins to teach in Capernaum. The people are held spellbound
because he spoke with authority, not like the scribes. A man comes before Jesus who is in the
hand of the power of evil. Jesus
makes the devil come out of the man. The bystanders are amazed because Jesus
has such authority[1].
What do we mean when we speak about the authority of the Lord? What do we mean when we talk about
authority in general? What ways do
we exercise authority? What ways
do we exercise the authority of the Lord?
The word authority comes from the Latin word auctoritas. The basic
meaning of this Latin word is creator. The word author also comes from this word. A writer can look at his or her
work, an essay, a short story, a novel, a poem, a non-fiction study, whatever;
an author can look at this work and say, “This is my creation.” The government recognizes that the
author has rights over his or her creation.
When we talk about the authority of the Lord, we recognize that He is
the Creator, or Author of the Universe.
He has the power to govern the universe. Just as an author can determine what takes place in the
short story he or she writes, God can determine what takes place in the
universe He has created.
All authority is by nature transitional. There is a huge exception, though.
The exception is the authority that comes from the Lord. In the Gospel of Mark,
the people who listened to Jesus were amazed because they had never experienced
someone speaking with such authority. Jesus held people spellbound because God
gave Him the authority to teach the truth. This authority would never be
removed from Jesus because Jesus was intimately united to his Father, the
source of the authority.
We share in the authority of the Lord to the extent that we are united to
the source of this authority. When we are confirmed we receive the power, the
authority, to defeat evil in the world and to lead others to Jesus, the source
of all truth. God gives this authority to us. God has entrusted us with his
authority only to the extent that we allow him into our lives. That is the
reason why the Church is adamant that we attend Church regularly and receive
the sacraments regularly. We need to have union with God so we can bring his
authority, his power to the world.
The crowd was spellbound because Jesus
spoke with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees. People are no
different now than they were then. People want to hear the real Word of God,
and feel the presence of God in the words of the speaker. We can do this. We have the authority
to do this. People can witness the
Word of God present in our lives, and then choose to make the Word of God
present in their own lives. We can
do this. We can make Jesus'
presence real for others. We have
the authority to do this.
People want to learn how to live their lives in such a way that when
they conclude their lives they can stand before the Lord saying that they have
made His Presence known in the world.
We can do this. We have the
authority, the power, to form others into Christian leaders. We have the
authority, the power of Jesus Christ if only we stay united to him.
Today we pray that we may remain united to the Lord, the source of the
power and the authority we have received ■
[1]
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time B, February 1, 2015. Readings: Deuteronomy
18:15-20; Responsorial Psalm 25: 1-2, 6-7, 7-9; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark
1:21-28.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario