HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.
THEME: What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry went out of him.
BY: Fr. Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Hebrews 2:5-12
Psalm 8:2,5-9
Mark 1:21-28
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*FROM OUR FIRSR READING*
The first reading of today talks how mankind has been honoured and considered even greater than the Angels of God, and the author also spoke of the dominion and glory which God has given to His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who came down into our midst, to this world to save us all from our fated destruction due to sin and death. Through Him, all of us have received the sure guarantee of eternal life and the light of hope, all of us who believe in Him and remain in His love and grace. The Lord Jesus has come into this world so that we may directly experience the love of God, and that God’s love may become tangible and approachable by us, no longer a distant wish but having become a reality in the flesh.
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*FROM THE GOSPEL READING*
In this morning’s gospel reading we find two very contrasting responses to Jesus. The man possessed by an unclean spirit reacted to him in a very hostile way, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?’ Of course, Jesus had come to destroy the evil spirits, the powerful forces that held people captive and prevented them from living their lives as God intended. In contrast, we have the very positive response to Jesus of the people of Capernaum. His teaching made a deep impression on them. They were astonished at his actions, declaring, ‘here is a teaching that is new, and with authority behind it’.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear Friends in Christ, we need to keep recovering something of that response of the people of Capernaum in todays gospel reading. Because we have heard the story of Jesus’ words and deeds so many times before, we can easily cease to be astonished and deeply impressed. We can lose that sense of the newness and liberating power of Jesus’ message and life. We need to keep asking for fresh eyes and ears every time we approach the gospel story so that we can continue to be energized by the new wine of Jesus’ words and deeds. That story is a living word for us now, the word of the Lord, and it retains the power to astonish and impress us if we allow it.
May God bless our day and all our activities of the day. Amen.
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