Theme:” Go and Proclaim: The Word of God which has power and authority”
First Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 111:1-2;3-4;5-6;10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, 10-13
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:21-28
Homily by Father Romie- Jun Peñalosa
In this Sunday’s first reading, it says, “Moses continued, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him (Deuteronomy 18: 15).” Moses is the greatest prophet of all time for he talks to God face to face. But here, Moses speaks of another prophet that God will be sending and he is telling them to listen to Him.
In the Gospel, Jesus is speaking in the synagogue while the Scribes (keepers of the Scripture) listened to Him. People were more astonished listening to Jesus than to the Scribes because Jesus spoke with authority in sharing the Word among the people, unlike the Scribes who only quotes scriptures and teachings from famous prophets like Moses. Jesus is the manifestation of what God has spoken to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15- that Jesus is the Word Himself. He reigns in power and with authority.
On the latter part of the Gospel, we see that someone with an unclean spirit reacted to the presence and teaching of Jesus. However, Jesus cast out the demon and it immediately obeyed His command. We are also given the same kind of authority as Jesus. It is important to note that when we speak God’s word, we should speak it with faith. Power through God’s authority flows through us when we use it by faith, not fear. Believing without faith is ineffective.
We also need the wisdom of the Lord. As Psalm 111: 10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. We should fear the Lord first while we walk in His wisdom. Knowing how to speak with power and exercising authority starts with having fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord develops in your life when you love God. Fear – not because you are afraid of God, but because you are afraid to hurt God.
In the Second Reading, Apostle Paul emphasized that simply knowing Scriptures makes us boastful like the Pharisees, who are filled with knowledge about the scripture. Knowledge of His word alone is not enough, it must be evident in our daily lives. Primate Ricardo once said, “Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge” because wisdom will teach us how to correctly imply His word. Therefore, we should acquire God’s Word with wisdom.
In doing our mission, we do not just quote bible verses, but we are to bring the Gospel with action. We do it with love, this is the greatest evidence of God’s word being lived in our lives. Listen to God. Listening is hearing God and understanding His Word, that we may apply what we have learned in our daily living.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saintmichaelkalibo
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/141718362@N07/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/104587191745272872189
Tumblr: http://saintmichaelkalibo.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stmichaelkalibo/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/saintmichaelkalibo/
Blogger: http://saintmichaelkalibo.blogspot.com/
iTunes Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/ph/podcast/cathedral-church-saint-michael/id1139105076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4DiiezN2MKXqq8OX7pvhaZ
