Authority - what and from where?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 1st week in Ordinary time

January 11, 2022: 1 Samuel 1: 9-20; Mark 1:21-28

Eli is too fast to judge Hannah... what permits him to do that? Does he assume authority to himself to judge a person; is it justified of him, he being a so-called man of God! Hannah points out to him that he need not be true, merely because he is in authority...nor is it taken for granted that he is better because of that same fact. Eli was wrong and Hannah was there standing tall in her total fidelity to God who had mercy on her. 

In the Gospel the pharisees wonder from where Jesus got his authority! Jesus spoke things and spoke in a way that they could not disprove him, nor could they challenge him. They wished to silence him with counter arguments and threatening accusations, but their efforts were all in vain. He just stood way up and ahead of them.

Where did he get that authority from, they wondered, as we ourselves can and need to: from where did Jesus' authority spring? Of course from the total fidelity to the One who sent him. With that absolute fidelity and uncompromising surrender to the Lord, Jesus could say anything and it would happen! And that is authority... that confidence to say anything and that can come only from the One who can do anything, the Almighty! Every baptised son and daughter of God is invested with this authority, it is our duty to discover and unlock it, that the world may see a speck of God's presence in and through us. 

What's in store doesn't matter... just Follow!

WORD 2day: Monday, First week in Ordinary time

January 10, 2022: 1 Samuel 1:1-8; Mark 1: 14-20

After a long while we are back to the Ordinary time and the very first message that the Word gives us, is so relevant. In our life's journey, that which can grant us an incredible serenity is the attitude of Following the Lord, without being worried too much about what is in store! 

We are still in the beginning of this year...or while thinking of projects that engage our days, it is normal that many things preoccupy our minds. Samuel's story that we begin to reflect on from today, affirms to us that God has a definitive plan for each of us; as the Lord would explain through Jeremiah in Jer 29:11: for I know the plans that I have for you; plans for your welfare not for ruin!

The secret lies in not permitting the grievances of our past to stunt our life and at the same time not permitting the anxieties of the future eat into our todays. Let us live our life, here and now, to the full, with total confidence that the Lord has a plan that will unfold in God's own time! 

All that we need to do is, what Jesus tells us today- FOLLOW ME! Let us just follow the Lord!