27-Jan-2015 Dear Friend, Though most people do not like to be ordered about or told what to do, yet people listen to persons who speak with authority. Of course, people who flaunt their authority are often challenged, but people who exercise quiet authority are listened to. Sometimes authority comes from experience, for others authority comes from within, for still others it comes from who they are and how they live their lives. The prophets of old and the prophetic voices among us derived their authority from God. Have a discerning weekend recognizing the prophetic presence of God in our midst! -Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 4th Sunday of the Year 'Speaking and Teaching with Authority!' 1-Feb-2015Deuteronomy 18: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28; In the earlier part of Deuteronomy Israel was warned about using all kinds of soothsayers and magical techniques to find out the will of God. The divine will was to be made known only through the prophets. Prophesy was to be Israel's special means of communication with God, Yahweh's special gift to his people. The people asked to be spared the ordeal of hearing the voice of God directly. They asked Moses to intercede with God to let His prophets speak on his behalf. Yahweh granted this request and the prophet became a mediator for the people. In the first reading Moses foretells the coming of a prophet who will speak about God's word to the people. Deuteronomy presents Moses himself as the ideal prophet. The prophet can never speak on his own authority, but speaks on behalf of God. The Jews believed that God would raise up in the last days a prophet like Moses.
Commonplace ProphetsAn Amos walks the beaten paths of Tekoa, but he hears a divine voice which no other vine dresser in Tekoa ever caught; a Bunyan tramps about England mending pots and pans, but above the din of this lowly task he catches voices that presently are to reverberate immortally through Pilgrim's Progress; a Lincoln steers his awkward raft down the Mississippi and ties up near a slave-auction block. But out of his rough routine labour a voice sounds which no other raftsman ever heard; a Riis tramps the round of a New York reporter in search of news, and out of the ugly tenements through which his duties carry him catches a challenge from the God of social justice which makes him a veritable prophet; and a lad of Galilee at a common carpenter's bench, shaping the same yokes of wood for the necks of cattle which countless other carpenters have shaped, dreams his way into a vision of the coming kingdom of God, when man shall wear the spiritual yoke which he shall shape for them as easily and as gratefully as these toiling bearers of burdens shall wear the wooden yokes which he is now making. In every case the majesty of the commonplace lies not so much in the task itself as in the spirit which the great soul brings to the task.Frank S. Hickman in 'Quotes and Anecdotes' In the second reading Paul is advocating the unmarried state, namely celibacy as an ideal way of life for those looking for an opportunity for contemplation and the apostolate. Paul's contention is that the person who decides to offer himself to the Lord's service should give his undivided attention to the Lord and not be preoccupied with family matters, and that anything that distracts his attention from the Lord should be shunned by him. Paul believed that the duty of providing for a family clashed with one dedicating oneself fully to the Lord. This teaching of Paul may have also been influenced by his belief in the immediate second coming of Jesus. The time was short and one should not be sidetracked by worldly matters. Paul's teaching still holds good for all who wish to make the kingdom the top most priority of their lives. Freedom to serveDuring the early days of the nineteenth century a wealthy plantation owner was attracted by the heartbreaking sobs of a slave girl who was about to step up to the auction block to be sold. Moved by a momentary impulse of compassion, he bought her at a very high price and then disappeared in the crowd. When the auction was over, the clerk came to the sobbing girl and handed her the bill of sale. To her astonishment, the plantation owner had written 'Free' over the paper that should have delivered her to him as his possession. She stood speechless, as one by one the other slaves were claimed by their owners and dragged away. Suddenly, she threw herself at the feet of the clerk and exclaimed: "Where is the man who bought me? I must find him! He has set me free! I must serve him as long as I live!"Anthony Castle in 'More Quotes and Anecdotes' In the gospel we are told that Jesus in order to get his message across to the people, used the opportunity provided by the synagogue to address the people. Normally any member of the synagogue or an important visitor was given the opportunity to speak to the people. Jesus used this opportunity given to him. Jesus' words carried great authority with the ordinary people, because his words had a ring of truth. His teaching was given with authority and confirmed with miracles, the sign that God was with him. In today's gospel we see how Jesus spoke with authority, and how ordinary people recognized this. His teaching made a deep impression on the people. His authority, unlike the scribes did not come from an external source, like the quotations used by the scribes, but from within. His authority was not second-hand, what others had said but from his own experience. He had experienced what he was talking about. He did not have any official position but he spoke the truth and truth does not need external support. The scribes always quoted the official position and their authority was buttressed by the opinions of great legal masters of the past. Jesus quoted no one; he spoke for himself, with his own authority. There are certain human beings who possess an unaccountable spiritual superiority. This gives them enormous moral authority. They have this authority, not by virtue of an office they hold, but by virtue of the kind of persons they are. Jesus possessed this kind of authority. Jesus also revealed the kind of authority he had when he was interrupted in his teaching by a poor demented person. "Do not meddle with us, Leave us alone. Have you come to destroy us?" The possessed person thus testifies to the power that Jesus had over the power of the evil one. Jesus rebuked the evil spirit sharply. "Be quiet! Come out of him!" And the unclean spirit was forced to leave the possessed man and went out with a loud cry. The people were astounded at the power of Jesus and remarked: "Here is a teaching that is new, and with authority behind it; he gives orders even to the unclean spirits and they obey him." Speaking with AuthorityAntiochus Ephiphanes, King of Syria, had a great interest in Egypt. He amassed an army and invaded that country in 168 B.C. To his deep humiliation the Romans ordered his home. They did not send an army to oppose him; such was the might of Rome that they did not need to. They sent a senator called Popilius Laena with a small and quite unarmed suite. Popilius and Antiochus met on the boundaries of Egypt. They talked; they both knew Rome and they had been friendly. Then very gently Popilius told Antiochus that Rome did not wish him to proceed with the campaign and wished him to go home. Antiochus said he would consider it. Popilius took the staff he was carrying and drew a circle in the sand round about Antiochus. Quietly he said, "Consider it now; you will give me your decision before you leave that circle." Antiochus thought for a moment and realized that to defy Rome was impossible. "I will go home," he said. It was a shattering humiliation for a king. But that was the power and the authority of the Roman Caesars. - In today's gospel we hear of another man who exercised authority; not the authority of brute power that subjugated people, but the power that comes from God. His authority was different from anyone else. His authority was divine.John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' "Jesus spends the Sabbath at Capernaum with his first disciples. There he manifests his extraordinary authority, both by his teaching and by the healing of possessed and sick people. Thus from the beginning of his ministry his fame spreads throughout Galilee, this region which, after the first Easter, will become the place of universal mission. For the present, Jesus goes to the synagogue and teaches there. After the catechesis of the law given by a scribe, no doubt Jesus would have given the homily, as at Nazareth. He arouses the astonished admiration of his audience. Unlike the scribes, who were anxious above all to explain the letter of the text on the basis of commentaries received from their teachers, Jesus expresses himself like someone who knows what he is talking about, and is not satisfied to repeat what others have taught him. Referring to no one but himself, he appears to be free with regard to the law which he interprets with authority. The healing of a possessed man, who interrupts Jesus with his cries, confirms the power which the Holy One of God disposes of. It can only provoke the question: Who is this man? Let us recognize our difficulty with such an account. Today, medicine and depth psychology relegate to a purely pathological level what antiquity attributed to the supernatural world. 'Schizophrenia' is what we think of when confronted with this so-called demoniac, an explanation which may not explain anything at all. Why should Satan not sometimes act by means of the split in a psychotic personality? Let us not fall into the trap of the new conformity and look only to the human sciences and the philosophies of surmise! It is in order to liberate us from received ideas and reactions that Jesus comes, now as in the past, to speak to us with authority." -Glenstal Bible Missal Speaking with AuthorityIn one of its issues Newsweek addressed in depth the Women's Liberation Movement. It observed that once the revolution was declared, the nation was flooded with books on the subject. Some books, like those written by Nancy Woloch and Phyllis Schlafly, were serious studies of the significance of the movement. Other books, like those authored by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, were more strident and dogmatic. The latter illustrate what often happens in a movement - self-styled prophets emerge who presume to speak with full authority. And so we have had such figures as Hugh Hefner as the spokesman for the Playboy Philosophy, guru Timothy Leary for the LSD cult and the militant Malcolm X for the Black Power movement. History shows that many of these movements die out and that their prophets fade away. But there is one movement that endures, one prophet who lives forever. The movement is Christianity and the prophet is Jesus Christ.Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds' Authority is a strange thing!Authority is a strange thing. A fourteen year-old boy argues about the curfew imposed by his parents. Then the next day in the freshman baseball game, he dutifully lays down a good bunt, forgoing a mighty swing at the fence, because the coach flashed a signal from the bench. Instant obedience to the coach; reluctant submission to mum and dad! On an airliner the captain flashes the seat-belt sign and everybody complies. Four hours later in a rented car, the passenger disregards the seat belt. The irony: for the same distance travelled, the airliner is three times safer.Gerard Fuller in 'Stories for all Seasons' May we discover in the word of God the power and authority of Jesus Christ! Fr. Jude botelhobotelhoj...@gmail.com PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
