Homily for 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

I fight authority, authority always wins.  I fight authority, authority always wins!  What in the world was John Mellencamp singing about? 

We all have been introduced to authority in our lives.  It began with our parents, then our teachers, perhaps our bosses and supervisors.  We are obligated, in a broader sense, to obey the authority of police officers and firefighters, not to mention governmental officials too.

As people of faith, we are called to recognize the ultimate authority; the authority of Jesus Christ and the authority of His Church

We can begin exploring this subject of authority with our 1^st reading today from Deuteronomy.  Moses, who is credited as the author of this book and the other four books of the Torah, the Law, acknowledges that he indeed is a prophet of God but another prophet will be raised up.  This prophet, Moses tells us, to him we shall listen.  And Moses is clear; this prophet will clearly speak the word of God.  Of course Moses here is identifying the final messianic prophet; Jesus Christ and his teaching authority.

In Mark’s Gospel we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue; teaching with such authority that the people are astonished.  Even those who would be familiar with the teachings of prophets through the Scriptures realized that this teaching of Jesus was different, was more powerful, and was with authority.  Even though Mark describes here the unclean spirit, the reality of the devil, and the exorcism of this unclean spirit, it is the authority of Jesus in his teachings that Mark clearly highlights here.

What happens to this powerful teaching authority we find in Jesus Christ now that Jesus has ascended to the Father in Heaven, seated at His right hand?  Do we simply just read about this authority and recall this authority from Scripture?  No.  Jesus’ teaching authority is alive and well and is fully present in His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church!  That teaching authority exists in our Pope, Christ’s Vicar on earth and all the Bishops of the world, in union with the Pope.  This is called the magisterium.  The magisterium of the Catholic Church has the responsibility for interpreting Scripture and teaching on matters of faith and morals.

That teaching authority is paramount in our current day and time as expressed by our Archbishop Aymond.  By now you may know about the horrible situation where the current administration in Washington D.C. will be mandating that Catholic institutions violate our very faith, our very conscious, and our very morals by mandating certain insurance coverage that violates our very identity.  As our Bishop, in union with Pope Benedict, Archbishop Aymond is asking us to pray and to become fully aware of the efforts of our Church to fight this.  Archbishop Aymond makes it crystal clear: this action is an unprecedented attack on our religious liberty.  Other bishops, also in union with the Pope, have declared this is a governmental attack on the Church.  We must heed the call of our Bishops, teaching with authority, to fight this and to do so as good Catholics, boldly yes but with charity and devoid of useless anger and slander.  Our weapons are not sticks and stones and mean-spiritedness; no they are prayer and resolve and doing the right thing!  And we must confess, as faithful Catholics, that this attack, in part, comes from the politicians reading the polls and the news stories that say we, as Catholics, contracept at 90% and well over 55% of us believe in abortion.  My friends in Christ, this is the crack that allows our enemies in to attack us.  May we have the courage to change!

What can you and I do, today, this week, here locally?  One of our Bishops is asking Catholics across America to pray the St. Michael prayer daily that the Church survives this attack from our federal government.  We all can pray the St. Michael prayer.  We can simply offer our daily prayers and devotions for the conversion of these leaders who currently intend to trample on religious freedom.  And finally, I will ask again this week, that we, the members of Most Holy Trinity Parish, consider our parish devotion this coming first Friday.  On this Friday, February 3^rd, like every other first Friday, we will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, beginning at the conclusion of morning Mass.  Adoration concludes with Benediction at 6 p.m.  Benediction is the crowning moment of our day with the Blessed Sacrament as Jesus blesses us while he is still present in the monstrance.  Benediction usually concludes by 6:40 p.m.  As I’ve mentioned before, our response as a parish family, to Benediction has been less than enthusiastic for the Eucharistic Christ.  If we, as a people, are going to be able to grow in our faith and fight these insidious attacks on Holy Mother Church, we must give public witness in Adoration, Benediction, weekly Mass and the other devotions and activities of our Parish family.

We may continue to fight authority, like John Mellencamp sings about, but like he says, authority always wins.  If we surrender joyfully to the authority of Jesus Christ and His Church, not only does authority win, but we win to.  And our victory is in Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God!