DAILY- HOMILY

February 1, 2014 – 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Cycle B, Green

Dt 18: 15-20 / 1 Cor 7:32–35 / Mk1:21–28

First Reading: Dt 18: 15-20

     He will raise up for you a prophet like myself from among the people, from your brothers, to whom you shall listen. Remember that in Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, you said: "I am afraid to die and I do not want to hear the voice of Yahweh again or see again that great fire." So Yahweh said to me: "They have spoken well. I shall raise up a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put my words into his mouth and he will tell them all that I command. If someone does not listen to my words when the prophet speaks on my behalf, I myself will call him to account for it. But any prophet who says in my name anything that I did not command, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die."

Second Reading: 1 Cor 7:32–35

     I would like you to be free from anxieties. He who is not married is concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. While he who is married is taken up with the things of the world and how to please his wife, and he is divided in his interests.

     Likewise, the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the service of the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit. The married woman, instead, worries about the things of the world and how to please her husband.

     I say this for your own good. I do not wish to lay traps for you but to lead you to a beautiful life, entirely united with the Lord.

Gospel: Mk 1: 21-28

     They went into the town of Capernaum and Jesus began to teach in the synagogue during the sabbath assemblies. The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the Law.

     It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue and he shouted, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: you are the Holy One of God." Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, "Be silent and come out of this man!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him.

     All the people were astonished and they wondered, "What is this? With what authority he preaches! He even orders evil spirits and they obey him!" And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

Reflection:

     In today's Gospel reading the unclean spirit asks Jesus, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?"

     This is the same question we ask today, especially during times when we may have strayed from the right path in our following of the Lord Jesus. We raise this question most probably out of fear, with our knowledge of the justice of God. Some time we will be judged by God.

     We ask the same question, even though we may not have an unclean spirit in us. This is the question of one who has problems or of one who even despairs, when things do not turn the way they are supposed to. We ask the question especially when we or close members of our family suffer, "Have you come to destroy us?"

     And we hear Jesus say, "Be silent." As with the evil spirit in today's Gospel, he commands the thought to leave our minds and our hearts. He tells us to quiet down and remember how he loves us, how he cares for us. We obey. We keep quiet. And when we do, we hear him assuring us and guiding us back to where we should be – beside him walking back to God.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     MARICOR MILITANTE

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

     FRANZ & ABIGAIL SAW

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     EVELYN C. ONG

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

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