Mother Church celebrates Sunday, January 28, 2024, as the fourth Sunday of ordinary time, Year B. In the Entrance Antiphon, we pray: “Save us, Lord our God, and gather us together from the nations, that we may proclaim your holy name and glory in your praise. Amen.”
The theme of this day’s Mass is Jesus as the prophetic teacher, who teaches with authority, a sharp contrast to the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. This message comes out quite forcefully in Saint Mark’s Gospel of this day. The prophetic role of our Lord is foretold in the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy, in the first reading, when God promises Moses he would send such a teacher in the shape of a prophet walking in Moses’ footsteps. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, in the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of two states of life: the celibate life and the married life. Both must be open to God and undivided in their devotion to him. Whether married or celibate, we are all called to holiness.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20.
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 anymore, 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.'"
Comment
The first five books of the Bible form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law). The first of these books is Genesis, which deals with the origin of the world, mankind, and the people of Israel; the second is Exodus, which gives an account of the escape of the Jewish people from Egypt and how they wandered about in the desert for forty years; the third is Leviticus, which gives the lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives a list of the tribes of Israel that left Egypt; and the fifth is Deuteronomy, from where the reading of this is taken. It is the second Law laid down by Moses before the Israelites enter into the Promised Land.
The passage for our meditation gives an account of the institution of the prophethood in Israel. Together with the king and the priest, the prophet is one of the great institutions of Israel. The prophet has a critical religious position and a special moral authority. His fundamental role is not to foretell the future, or perform other acts of divination or sorcery, but rather to speak in the name of the Lord and proclaim the meaning and scope of past, present, and future events. The criterion of the genuine prophet is his obedience to the word of God and the Law, and the coming to pass of what he declares God would do.
Moses is seen not only as the one who delivered Israel from captivity in Egypt but also as the first prophet and the outstanding model for all future prophets. He was the greatest mediator between Israel and her God and so all true prophets were to model themselves on him. The true prophet was an Israelite who was called by God in line with the prophetic tradition to reveal God’s plan for his people.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is seen as the new Moses, the prophet raised from among God’s people, as we hear in this reading. What Moses announces here finds complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the greatest of all the prophets (Heb 1:4).
This passage tells me that God raises from among his people prophets, who are people who preach love, social justice, fidelity, and care for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized in our society. To know and to love God is to know and love one’s neighbor and bring about justice and reconciliation. Any other so-called prophet, who preaches anything other than love, the greatest commandment our Lord gave us, is fake and a charlatan, and there are many of them among us today.
So, we pray this day for the grace to discern the voice of the true prophet, Christ Jesus, from the numerous voices of the prophets of Baal polluting our city today. Lord, give your people the strength and the courage to cling to your name, and to your name only, the only one by which we can be saved. Amen.
Second Reading: 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.
Comment
Corinth was one of the most important commercial cities in the Roman Empire. Even in Saint Paul’s time, it already had a long history behind it. The Romans conquered it and the Emperor Julius Caesar established it as a Roman colony, thereby giving it a new prosperity, which was to last for over three centuries. The Romans divided Greece into two provinces: Achaia and Macedonia and Corinth was the capital of the province of Achaia. It was also the residence of the Roman pro-consul.
It was a wealthy and populous port, with many different religions and temples dedicated to all sorts of gods - very much like what happens in many African cities today. It had a bad moral reputation and Saint Paul had a hard time setting the church there during the 18 months he spent there (50-51 AD). Though that community was passionately devoted to its new-found faith, its inhabitants were not noted for their obedience to Paul’s instructions. They had not been Christians for long and submission to apostolic authority was extremely difficult. Some of them openly preached obedience to the Law of Moses, especially the obligation to submit to circumcision, a fact Paul denied and preached against. He was greatly insulted by some of the factions and he had to leave the city in a hurry to avoid a riot against him.
Some members even began to attack and question Paul’s rights as their apostolic leader. They felt they could choose their own religious leaders and relied on worldly wisdom to govern their Christian life. The result was a rivalry that made use of pagan law-courts, and a permissiveness that allowed gross sexual laxity and tolerance.
That is what led Saint Paul to deal more explicitly with the question put to him on marriage and celibacy. Saint Paul, who is convinced that the Lord’s return is very near at hand, wants to help his converts see that married life can be a hindrance to paying the Lord due attention at this late hour. Married life necessarily brings one the cares of the world. If this life is not going to last much longer, Paul wonders, then why should anyone even bother to marry? He urges his converts of Corinth to instead keep their hearts, minds and souls on our Lord’s imminent return, so as not to be taken aback when he comes unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
Through them, he also urges us, Christians, to detach ourselves from worldly things and pray for the courage to keep our eyes, minds and hearts focused on Christ and on him alone. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light; on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Mark 1: 21-28
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.
Comment
In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ first ministry brings about a confrontation between the power of God and the power of darkness. While Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, he is interrupted by the shouts of a man possessed by an evil spirit, a man who has lost total control of his own life. When Jesus speaks, he commands the power that dominates this man’s life to leave him alone. At Jesus’ command, the man is freed. The people are astonished: “Here is a teaching that is new and with authority behind it”, they say to each other.
When Jesus teaches, he shares not only his wisdom but his power as well. He uses his power to liberate people from the evil forces that dominate their lives. His words act as a liberating force that frees people from the stranglehold of the devil. His words set people free from fear, hatred, and enmity and bring them salvation, liberation, and happiness. They restore peace to troubled hearts and minds, and heal broken bodies, minds, and spirits.
That is where the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees lies. Where Jesus gives top priority to freeing man from the grip of evil forces, the Pharisees and the scribes emphasize a blind adherence to the Law and thereby neglect man.
The purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world is to preach the liberating words of the Gospel that establish the Kingdom of God over the kingdom of evil. Victory over the unclean spirit is a clear sign that God’s salvation has come. By overcoming the evil one, Jesus shows that he is the Messiah, the Saviour, more powerful than the demons. As Jesus tells his disciples, “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (Jn 12:31).
Jesus’ teaching, unlike that of the scribes, is always intended to bring about a positive change of heart in the people, not like the scribes and Pharisees whose teaching makes the people feel bad. Whereas the scribes teach whatever makes sense in terms of their understanding of the Law and Traditions, Jesus teaches that which makes a positive difference. Presented with a man blind from birth, the scribes seek to explain why he is blind -- whether it was he who sinned or his parents. Jesus, on the other hand, is only interested in curing the disease – blindness – that has crippled this man from birth. For this reason, Jesus performs healings and exorcisms together with his teaching, to show that his primary concern is to change the human situation not just to explain it.
This Gospel is a challenge to us, especially those of us living in big African cities, where so many people are giving their lives over to evil forces for money. Why do so many of us go to the devil when Christ has defeated him already? Why do we let the fear of the devil overcome our reverence of Christ, who continues to cast out the devil from our hearts whenever we turn to him in a good confession? Christ’s authority is such that no evil can resist: “Be quiet! Come out of him,” he commands the devil in the Gospel of this day, and he comes out shrieking and fleeing for dear life.
Let us open our hearts, minds, and souls to him and he will come into our lives and free us from the senseless fear that sends so many of us taking refuge in the homes of ‘marabouts’ and false exorcist priests, and so-called prophets. Saint John tells us in Revelation 21:4 that God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and there will be no more death, and no more mourning and sadness. That is only true when we keep our gaze focused on the crucified Lord.
I will end this reflection with a prayer for peace which Saint John Paul II left to the Church, with our focus being our dear Cameroon. “O God, Creator of the universe, you extend your paternal concern over every creature and guide the events of history to the goal of salvation. We acknowledge your fatherly love when you break the resistance of mankind and, in a world torn by strife and discord, you make us ready for reconciliation. Renew for us the wonders of your mercy. Send forth your Spirit that He may work in the intimacy of our hearts, that enemies may begin to dialogue, that adversaries may shake hands and peoples may encounter one another in harmony. May all commit themselves to the sincere search for true peace which will extinguish all arguments, for charity which overcomes hatred, for pardon which disarms revenge. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
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