the e-Testament
Mark 1: 21-28
Then they entered Capernaum. When the Sabbath arrived, Jesus lost no time in getting to the meeting place. He spent the day there teaching. They were surprised at his teaching—so forthright, so confident—not quibbling and quoting like the religion scholars.
Suddenly, while still in the meeting place, he was interrupted by a man who was deeply disturbed and yelling out, “What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to! You’re the Holy One of God, and you’ve come to destroy us!”
Jesus shut him up: “Quiet! Get out of him!” The afflicting spirit threw the man into spasms, protesting loudly—and got out.
Everyone there was incredulous, buzzing with curiosity. “What’s going on here? A new teaching that does what it says? He shuts up defiling, demonic spirits and sends them packing!” News of this traveled fast and was soon all over Galilee.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
may my life so mirror that of Your Son,
that those I encounter
may recognise in me
the Christ who calls us all
into a closer relationship
with Him.
Amen
Reflection
In this Sunday’s Gospel the evil spirit immediately recognises who Jesus is. In her book ‘I am Malala’ Malala tells of how the Taleban targeted those who did not share their ideology. They recognised who posed a ‘risk’ to their way of life and sought to eliminate or silence them. Thus Malala was targeted and shot for speaking out in favour of education for all.
To be recognised means that there will be some kind of reaction towards us, whether that be good or bad. People will either embrace us with affection or treat us with disdain, but it does mean that we are having some impact on the life of others.
In our choice to live as Christians faithful to the Gospel, we will be recognised as followers of Jesus Christ and will accordingly elicit some kind of response from others. A failure to be recognised as a Christian should prompt some soul searching in us that seeks to answer the question ‘who am I?’
Andrew Ebrahim - Salesian Priest