Homily OT (B) 4th Sunday - A New Teaching with Authority

Fr. Andrew Dalton, LC

Homily • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Core Message:

To recognize Jesus’ authority means more than conforming;

it means anticipating his desires and aiming to please him out of love.

I. Introduction

Authority has got a bad name nowadays

· When I was a kid, my sister gave my Mom a bumper sticker

· I’m the Mommy, that’s why

· I hated that bumper sticker: authority, yuck!

· But for the gospel writer, exousia is a magical, majestic word

II. Body

One with Exousia is coming, so Look out for God’s Messenger

Who is the prophet like Moses? What will he do?

· Moses spoke with the authority of God.

· Of all the prophets, only Moses spoke to God face to face.

· The Torah had precedence over the rest of the Hebrew Bible.

· Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts.[1]

· The New Moses will have “face to face” authority when he speaks.

The Message of the Messenger

What did Jesus teach?

· We don’t know the content of his message from Mark. This is not so important for him.

· Rather it’s how he spoke that matters.

· On the other hand, the exorcism itself is a new teaching.

· The manifestation of authority is the most climactic teaching of all.

· Jesus is a prophet, who speaks God’s Word to men, even when he doesn’t speak at all!

· In other words, his whole life is teaching

Living the Message

What does Jesus’ authority mean in my life?

· Hear his authoritative voice, and harden not your hearts, but listen

· St Paul says: be anxious to please the Lord.

· Anticipate the desires of the one your soul loves

· CCC 2842 – thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

o It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make “ours” the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

· CCC 2827

o St. Augustine: “It would not be inconsistent with the truth to understand the words, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ to mean: ‘in the Church as in our Lord Jesus Christ himself’; or ‘in the Bride who has been betrothed, just as in the Bridegroom who has accomplished the will of the Father.’[2]

III. Conclusion

I’m your child, that’s why!

· Abba, I’m your Daughter, that’s why I obey you.

· Christ Jesus, I’m your Sister, that’s why love you.

· Holy Spirit, I’m your Bride, that’s why I adore you.

Readings for the 4th Sunday of OT (B):

First Reading

Deuteronomy 18:15–20

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’

Response

Psalm 95:8

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

Psam

Psalm 95:1–2, 6–9

95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 7:32–35

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Matthew 4:16

16 the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

Gospel

Mark 1:21–28

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “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.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Roman Missal – 4th Sunday of OT (B):

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Entrance Antiphon [Ps 106 (105):47]

Save us, O Lord our God!

And gather us from the nations,

to give thanks to your holy name,

and make it our glory to praise you.

Collect

Grant us, Lord our God,

that we may honor you with all our mind,

and love everyone in truth of heart.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer over the Offerings

O Lord, we bring to your altar

these offerings of our service:

be pleased to receive them, we pray,

and transform them

into the Sacrament of our redemption.

Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon [Cf. Ps 31 (30):17–18]

Let your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your merciful love.

O Lord, let me never be put to shame, for I call on you.

Or: [Mt 5:3–4]

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.

Prayer after Communion

Nourished by these redeeming gifts,

we pray, O Lord,

that through this help to eternal salvation

true faith may ever increase.

Through Christ our Lord.

Question and Answer

Look out for God’s Messenger