4th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Deut 18:15-20        1Cor 7:32-35         Mk 1:21-28

In the world history, the regime of Hitler is unlikable by many. Because of the totalitarian authority he exercised, great masses of Jews were put to dehumanizing, agonizing, excruciating, painful death. It was in wartime that Hitler's authority showed itself in an absolute form. As Commander-in-Chief of the army, Hitler made himself so central to the strategic planning of the war that everything had to go through him. He ran the war, a situation which left his generals frustrated. They knew he was making major errors, yet they felt they could not stop him. Hitler’s authority was such that, he extracted unconditional obedience from his subjects. It made them even to act against their humane conscience. Hitler’s authority was feared by many in his time.

In this background we need to have a look upon the authority of Jesus Christ which is incomparable with any human authority. In an atmosphere of people who love freedom, words such as authority, dominance, supremacy is disliked. But in today’s gospel, we see people perceived the authority of Jesus with awe. His authority was looked at with wonder and surprise, unlike the authority manifested by the Jewish leaders. It is true, a desire for domination is inherent in every human person, and hence some people turn out to be power mongers. The authority of Jesus did not have the trace of domination. Rather it was a manifestation of his love towards the people.

We see in the first reading taken from the book of Deuteronomy, that God authorizes a person to be a prophet to take his word to the people of God. The prophet is only permitted to say what God has asked him to say nothing less or nothing more. Before the people of God, the prophet stands with authority in the name of God. It is not his personal authority that he exercises over them but the authority bestowed upon him by God. In such case, the prophet is expected not to misuse the authority given to him by God. Therefore, we find a strong statement in the first reading where God says: Any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak – that prophet shall die (Deut 18:20). The decisive reflection we imbibe from this is that, any misuse of power or authority, in God’s name for personal gain is subjected to condemnation.

Jesus never used the authority endowed upon him by God for his personal gain but only to institute the Kingdom of God among the people and for their well-being. There were many Rabbis in the Jewish society equally speaking about the Scriptures like Jesus, still Jesus made a difference from them.

Normally, human beings exercise their power and authority over other human beings. But unlike them, Jesus exercised power and authority over the unclean spirits. He was never so stern with anyone as he was stern with the unclean spirits. Jesus who had remarkable power over the unclean spirits, was so loving and compassionate towards the people and did not lord over them. That is why, with amazement they commented: What is this? A new teaching – with authority! (Mk 1:27). This was a rare combination, they found in him. Since it was a rare blend of compassion and authority in a single person, we note in the gospel these words: At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee (Mk 1:28).

Why the fame of some people spread so fast? For example, we are aware about the fame of celebrities. It is because of their extraordinary nature or talent, they enjoy good fame. It is because of their behaviour or talent or temperament or personality being unusal than the ordinary people, they gain popularity so soon. This is what happened in the case of Jesus Christ too. His manifestation of authority was something unusual than the rest of them. The reason for this unusual behaviour was his strong personal integrity.

Personal integrity means the undivided personality in a person. Integrity is the qualification of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards. In ethics, integrity is regarded by many as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. There lies perfect synchrony between the person’s thought, words and deeds. It is always a challenge for everyone to establish this synchrony in themselves. It needs great courage to evolve such a synchrony.

Most often, it is a difficult task for us to speak out boldly what we think in mind. We do not express so easily whatever thought that arise in our mind. We need purity of mind to do that, but we lack that as vulnerable beings. Again, it is also challenging for us to keep to our words. We also fail to keep our words or act according to our words. Jesus did not have this difficulty or challenge within his personality. He boldly spoke to anyone what he thought in mind and always acted as per his words. There was perfect synchrony between his thought, words and deeds. Nobody was able to find a disharmony among them. This aspect of his authority founded on his personal integrity also had a link to the authority that was given to him from above.

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). By this, he did not mean an authority against human beings. It is not even an authority of man over man. It only means that the above given authority has to be synchronized and personalized in one’s personal integrity. While meditating on these words of Jesus, St Pope John Paul II once stated, “It is the authority that enables man to be revealed to himself in his royalty, in all the fullness of his dignity. It is the authority the specific power of which man must discover in his heart, through which he must be revealed to himself in the dimensions of his conscience and in the perspective of eternal life.”

The great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” Jesus strengthened his authority in his calmness, silence and serenity. For thirty years he did not enter into the public domain. All these were silent years of strengthening his authority and forming his personal integrity, in order to manifest his authority that was marveled by many in his days on earth. Our quest for building integrity in our personality should be modelled after the personal integrity of Jesus Christ.

We need to seclude ourselves in calmness and silence from our routine busy life like Jesus, to understand that authority is for serving the people in a wider context, and not to use them for one’s end. Finally, let us take into our heart, the advice of St Peter, who was the first pope of the Church: Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away (1Pet 5:3).

2nd Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

1Sam 3:3b-10,19        1Cor 6:13c-15a,17-20       Jn 1:35-42

‘Come and see’ is the catch word in today’s gospel. In common understanding, this three-worded phrase is an invitation to experience something worse or better. In 1985, the feature film titled ‘Come and see’ was a large box-office hit in the Russian screens. This was a Soviet war drama film portraying the horrifying experience and witness of a young Belarusian boy. The horrifying experience takes place in an atmosphere of Nazi punitive action. The title of the movie ‘Come and see’ points to the tragic experience of a boy turning from a cheerful teenager into a gray-haired old man. But in today’s gospel, the same title comes as an invitation to a joyful and spiritual experience. It came as a response to the enquiry made by Andrew and his companion. Though short, it is a very fascinating phrase to ponder about.

Apart from considering the phrase as an invitation, there is another side to it when seen from the standpoint of a person who utters it. Very few people have the guts to utter this short statement. Only those people who possess personal integrity could invite others to enter into their internal forum and influence them to follow their belief, philosophy and lifestyle. Jesus was one such kind.

When Andrew asked him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (Jn 1:38b), Jesus could have simply replied him by just mentioning about the place of his stay and would have went away. Most of us would do that only. But Jesus was different and unique. He immediately said, “Come and see” (Jn 1:39). That made all the difference in those who encountered him. With that approach, Jesus was able to attract a cluster of people to God’s own advantage and His mission. In inviting various persons to join in his discipleship, Jesus always had a direct style of telling them, either “Follow me” or “Come and see”.

But, the first reading presents the vocation narrative of Samuel which was of different style and extraordinary in nature. It was beyond the ordinary way and something supernatural. Either way, whether ordinary or extraordinary, vocation to a noble life comes from God. The same applies to our Christian vocation and discipleship.

The vocation narrative of St Andrew, in the gospel, presents a model of how a progress should happen in vocation to Christian discipleship:
- First, he hears the testimony about Jesus from the mouth of John the Baptist
- Secondly, he receives a direct experience of Jesus, the Messiah, by staying with Him
- Thirdly, he passes that testimonial experience to his brother Simon, to the extent of turning Simon into a disciple of Jesus

Therefore, we see the reception of a testimony, the experience of that testimony, and powerfully transmitting it by witnessing to that testimony. Our Christian call and life should have these three elements. A similarity we see in St John the Baptist too.

Before John the Baptist could witness to Jesus as the Lamb of God, he had the experience of Jesus Christ while he was conceived in the womb of Elizabeth. While Mary visited Elizabeth being conceived of Jesus Christ in her womb, Elizabeth said to her, “As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Lk 1:44). This leaping for joy was an outcome of John’s experience of the presence of Jesus Christ in his vicinity. Then, as per the desire of God, he grew with the mind of becoming a forerunner of the Messiah. When the time came, he witnessed to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, and made others as witnesses to the same fact by baptizing with water.

Hence, any witness should pass through these three noble stages of receiving a testimony, experiencing that testimony, and finally, witnessing to that testimony. Our Christian vocation would be in vain, if it does not culminate in a life of witness. Sadly, our Christian life stops with the reception stage. Hardly it switches over to the experiential stage. Very rarely it reaches the witnessing stage. Most often our Christian living is non-persuasive, and mediocre.

Till the time of Jesus’ resurrection, the Christian vocation and discipleship of Jesus’ disciples did not have the expected depth in their witnessing. But after experiencing the Spirit during the feast of Pentecost, they turned out to be powerful witnesses of Christ. They were able to spread the gospel of Christ to various corners of the world, though they lacked the current advantages of media, technology and transport.

Through the gospel, today Jesus utters the words ‘Come and see!’ to each of us as an invitation to a responsible Christian living. Our priorities in life dictate our choices and our choices determine the outcome of our lives. Whether we arrive at the right destination or not depends on our choices that are often between alternatives that appear equally attractive but lead to entirely different results. A responsible Christian living rests on the right choice we make between available alternatives. Certainly, one of the alternative would point to the gospel values of Christ. It needs real guts to opt that in this current world of so many pressures. When we live a responsible Christian life, that will be a witness to the faith we have accepted in Jesus Christ. We need not become great preachers in the pulpit to witness about Christ, rather our responsible Christian lifestyle would be sufficient to echo the gospel values of Jesus.

A company advertised an opening in its sales force. It received more than thousand applications for the job. But, of those many letters and resumes, one letter stood out: “I am presently selling furniture at the address below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. I will have no way of identifying you. That way, the sales abilities I exhibit will be no more than my usual everyday approach and not a special effort to impress a potential employer.” The sales manager took the applicant up on his challenge and visited the furniture store. The red-haired man got the job.

Like this salesman can we challenge God to check on our disposition to a responsible Christian living? A tree is assessed by its yield of fruits and not its leaves. Similarly, our Christian witness is shown by our good attitude and its eventual actions. God does not look for pretensions in our life of witness. Our witness should be real and genuine. How enthusiastic and authentic we are, to respond to his call?