In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus is described as speaking with authority that amazes those who hear him. It is an authority that was so different from what the synagogue was used to hearing from their usual religious leaders: the scribes who interpreted the law of God for the people of God, and the teachers who taught the Israelites how they should live and what they should believe. Both scribes and teachers spoke with authority too. Both were inspiring, but somehow the reality of the word they taught was not part of them in the way it was with Jesus.
“….On the Sabbath He 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.” (Mk 1: 21b-22)
In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus is described as speaking with authority that amazes those who hear him. It is an authority that was so different from what the synagogue was used to hearing from their usual religious leaders: the scribes who interpreted the law of God for the people of God, and the teachers who taught the Israelites how they should live and what they should believe. Both scribes and teachers spoke with authority too. Both were inspiring, but somehow the reality of the word they taught was not part of them in the way it was with Jesus.
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The theme for all BLD communities for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary time focuses us on the way we, as disciples of Christ, should detach ourselves from the things of the world that separate us or distract us from our mission and calling. We are bombarded at every turn by messages urging us to conform to the norms and values of today’s world, making it difficult to live our faith. It behooves us to look deeper into our hearts for our purpose and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be able to withstand the continual attack that we encounter everyday aimed at preventing us from reaching our eternal goal.
I would like to summarize at the beginning of the New Year the address of Pope Francis to the third world congress of Ecclesial movements and new communities, November 22, 2014. BLD is one of more than 30 relatively small Ecclesial, communities in the Archdiocese of Newark. It is then important for us to renew and reflect on the basis of our BLD community life and how it fits into the life of the larger church. The holy father made three points in his address which I would like to outline:
We are approaching the 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas is less than a week away. There’s something special in the air, an excitement, a kind of anticipation that’s not like any other time of the year. We look forward to the parties and the presents. But we know there is so much more to it than that, because we share the anticipation of an angel.
With Advent in full swing, the common thread for the month has been preparation for Jesus. With preparation comes the anticipation of the coming of our Lord. How do we prepare? What should we do in anticipation of Jesus? What does the Word say we should do?
The entire First Reading is an order from God in what to do to prepare for Him. “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.” (Is 61:1-2a) One of the teachings issuing from the “Fraternity of Priests” group, to which I belong, is the so called “Visitation” message. It is a reminder of one of the basic teachings of the Church and Scripture, that is, God has not only “visited” His people in the past, but is still doing so at the present time. The Old Testament prophets announced the “visitation” message of the judgment of God on the people especially when they were disobeying Him by idolatry. Their call was one of repentance and obedience. This was a “visitation” message of often impending doom if they refused to obey God.
The Gospel reading for this coming Sunday challenges us to a higher calling: to “be watchful,” to be vigilant, and to be responsible. The founder of Opus Dei, Jose Maria Escriva, gives this exhortation in his book Friends of God: “Your life is for God, for the good of all men, through your love for our Lord. Your buried talent - dig it up again! MAKE IT YIELD.”
Two interesting but contrasting figures appear in this Sunday’s readings. The woman in Proverbs can be seen as a very busy and accomplished wife and mother. She applies herself, industriously utilizing her personal skills; she is compassionate and generous to the poor and has reverence for the Lord. Meanwhile, in the Gospel’s parable of the talents, we see the rejected servant as totally unproductive.
With Halloween just past us, I thought it might be helpful to dwell a bit on the mysterious world of the invisible. Business and even entertainment has commercialized the mysterious and the invisible. It is ironic that as the world is becoming more secular and questioning of the invisible, entertainment in the form of horror films, and spooky costumes on Halloween has become more popular. Even though we might dismiss this as harmless, we would do well to be careful to avoid dabbling into witchcraft and horror programs which could have demonic roots.
One concept that appeals to many Christians today is the notion of being authentic. By authentic I mean being Christian in a way which reflects the reality of the gospel. We want to be authentic Christians who are members of authentic churches pursuing authentic ministry. Yet what does this really look like? 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 paints a portrait that reveals Christian authenticity from several aspects.
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To nurture and promote the love of the Gospel of Christ.
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