Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 | 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 | Mark 1:21-28
Somehow by the Grace of God, we have come to the end of the first month of a new year, a year we had anticipated because, in many ways, the last one was a disaster, and by changing the calendar, things could turn around. As always, some things are better, some worse, as joys and disappointment affect daily lives.
Leaders of great and small organizations have the opportunity to create change for the common good, just as Moses did centuries ago, as well as Paul, an ambassador for Christ, and Jesus who came to model for followers the roadway to a heavenly kindom.
All leaders who bear the tasks of following their minds and hearts and imposing their values on groups sometimes don’t get it right with the cards they have been dealt. There are winners and losers in the game of life, and history often determines how performance ratings are evaluated by those who study the issues and the person who influenced their outcomes.
Thus God called Moses, and there is probably no one in history who envied the task he had of guiding a stiff-necked people to a promised land. Paul may have been the most zealous apostle, but how he persisted with all the calamities he endured is a tribute to his fidelity to the mission of keeping Jesus alive in the minds and hearts of the wide-spreading Christian community. Then the person of God in the form of a human became the benchmark of what humanity looks like in the eyes of a Creator God.
As Christ was going about as a teacher and healer, he made lasting impressions. Indeed, because of these healing miracles, but also because as is displayed in today’s gospel: “for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” As can be evidenced, the scribes were about their agenda and feared a loss of authority while Jesus was influencing inclusiveness and respect for all regardless of status in society.
The prayer for today is that all leaders and those who follow them will realize that there is an all-powerful God who rules by kindness and advocates unity. Our role is to make a better history for the future of all peoples and the planet we have been entrusted with since the creation of the world.
Sr. Dorothy Maxwell, OP