The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
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.
—Mark 1:27-28
When many people hear the word “prophet,” they imagine someone who is essentially a divinely sanctioned fortune-teller. But, if we look at the full story of salvation as it is presented in the Bible, we recognize that prophets were just as concerned with the here-and-now as they were with the world to come. In fact, it was the prophets’ special mission to help the people recognize the truth about themselves and the world around them, especially calling them to the see how their words and actions impacted their relationships with God and others and what the consequences of those words and actions might be.
Prophets told the truth.
Because of this, prophets were often hated, especially by people in power.
In the First Reading proclaimed on the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, God promises to raise up a new prophet in the spirit of Moses. And, like Moses, this great prophet will be one who will speak God’s truth, leading the people to the freedom of the Reign of God. As we know, many prophets come after Moses (think of the “major” prophets—Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel—or “minor” prophets like Amos, Haggai, and Micah), but we see this promise being fulfilled in Jesus himself, the Prophet, whom the Gospel this Sunday presents as preaching and teaching with authority and as casting out evil spirits, demonstrating his power to free the people from the forces that enslave them.
“Around Jesus there was life stirring. Something worked within Him: in the words He spoke, giving them life, power over mind and heart; in the commands from his lips, through the gestures of his hand; no one could resist… This power within Him spoke out some message wherever there was suffering and tribulation, making people come to Him and find relief. It brought peace and drove away the Power of Darkness.”
—Romano Guardini in Jesus Christus; image: Jesus casting out a demon from Stift Lambach (11th c.)
In his book, Fully Human, Fully Divine, Cistercian Father Michael Casey reflected,
Much more than the other evangelists, Mark is at pains to present Jesus as a teacher. Jesus’ perception of the most urgent need of the people is that they lack care and guidance… Jesus was for his disciples, and can be for us, a teacher who imparts himself rather than some external knowledge or expertise. Nobody else can reproduce the power inherent in Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus’ words had the power to heal and make whole. Even today, they invite us into a new way of engaging God and the world. To allow Jesus’ words to penetrate our hearts means that we must be willing to accept him as our teacher in faith and in all of life. As I have observed in previous reflections, it is not simply enough to learn about Jesus. Rather, we must learn from Jesus. This frees and empowers us to commit ourselves to following his teachings as apprentice-disciples who make his message and way of life our own. In the weeks to come, we will continue to see this dynamic at work as we hear more of Mark’s Gospel.
In all of this, imitating Jesus, the Prophet and Teacher, also means that we have to be willing to live as prophets and teachers in our own time and place.
The Second Vatican Council reminded us that every Christian is called to pursue holiness, as each believer is called to “manifest in their ordinary work the love with which God has loved the World” (Lumen Gentium, 41). To understand what this means, we can think of modern-day prophets like Dorothy Day, Saint Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sister Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN, and even Pope Francis. Each, in her or his way, has looked at the realities—the truth—of the world around them and courageously named those elements which were opposed to God’s loving plan. Their willingness to speak out against injustice and oppression took its toll on them (and we also see this today in the opposition to many of Pope Francis’ teachings and initiatives). But think about what our world would be like today if these faith-filled women and men had not been courageous enough to tell the truth!
In his 2018 Message for World Communications Day, Pope Francis reminded us:
Truth involves our whole life. In the Bible, it carries with it the sense of support, solidity, and trust, as implied by the root 'aman, the source of our liturgical expression Amen. Truth is something you can lean on, so as not to fall. In this relational sense, the only truly reliable and trustworthy One – the One on whom we can count – is the living God. Hence, Jesus can say: "I am the truth" (John 14:6). We discover and rediscover the truth when we experience it within ourselves in the loyalty and trustworthiness of the One who loves us. This alone can liberate us: "The truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
As we continue the journey of Ordinary Time and come to a deeper understand of Who it is that has come among us, the liturgy for this Sunday reminds us that, as disciples, we are invited to share in Jesus’ prophetic mission, naming blessings where they can be found and calling for justice where it is absent.
Grant us, Lord our God,
that we may honor you with all our mind,
and love everyone in truth of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
