FIRST READING
Hebrews 2:5-12
It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. Instead, someone has testified somewhere:
What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor, subjecting all things under his feet.
In “subjecting” all things to him, he left nothing not “subject to him.” Yet at present we do not see “all things subject to him,” but we do see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor” because he suffered death, he who “for a little while” was made “lower than the angels,” that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers” saying:
I will proclaim your name to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (see 7) You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
O LORD, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
ALLELUIA
See 1 Thessalonians 2:13
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Mark 1:21-28
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and 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. 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.
REFLECTIONS:
Do you believe that God’s word has power to set you free and to transform your life? When Jesus taught he spoke with authority. He spoke the word of God as no one had spoken it before. When the rabbis taught they supported their statements with quotes from other authorities. The prophets spoke with delegated authority – “Thus says the Lord.”When Jesus spoke he needed no authorities to back his statements. He was authority incarnate – the Word of God made flesh. When he spoke, God spoke. When he commanded even the demons obeyed.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) remarked: “Faith is mighty, but without love it profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking charity it availed nothing. They said, 'What have we to do with you (Mark 1:24)?' They confessed a sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils.”
Paul the Apostle tells us that faith is powerful – it can even remove mountains, but without love it profits nothing (1 Corinthians 13). True faith that is rooted in Jesus Christ works through love (Galalatians 5:6) and abounds in hope (Romans 15:13). Our faith is made perfect in love because love orients us to the supreme good which is God himself as well as the good of our neighbor who is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26,27). Hope anchors our faith in the promises of God and purifies our desires for the things which will last for eternity. That is why the Word of Christ has power to set us free from all that would ensnare us in sin, deception, and despair. Bede, a venerable English abbot and noted teacher of the scriptures (672-735 AD) explains how the word spoken by Christ has power to silence the voice of the devil: “The devil, because he had deceived Eve with his tongue, is punished by the tongue, that he might not speak” [Homilies on the Gospels 1.8]. Whose voice do you listen to and heed?
Faith is both a free gift of God and the free assent of our will to the whole truth that God has revealed. To live, grow, and persevere in the faith to the end, we must nourish it with the word of God. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds that we may grow in his truth and in the knowledge of his great love for each of us. If we approach God’s word submissively, with an eagerness to do everything the Lord desires, we are in a much better position to learn what God wants to teach us through his word. Are you eager to be taught by the Lord and to conform your life according to his word?
"Lord Jesus, your word is power and life. May I never doubt your saving love and mercy, and the power of your word to bring healing, pardon, and freedom to all who receive it."
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