AUTHORITY FROM RELATIONSHIP
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: We often witness people flaunting their authority. Perhaps, we have flaunted our authority and thrown our weight around! The liturgy today presents Jesus who exercised his authority, which came from his relationship with his Father, but did not flaunt it. We pray that we may learn from him.
Penitential Rite
L: For the times we have flaunted our authority and roles, we ask the Lord’s pardon.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you came to heal us and to restore us to life:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you taught and healed with authority:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you had compassion on the sick and the oppressed:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: Faithful God,
your Holy One, Jesus of Nazareth,
spoke the truth with authority,
and you confirmed his teaching by wondrous deeds.
Through his healing presence,
drive far from us all that is unholy,
so that we may proclaim him Messiah and Lord
and bear witness to your power to heal and save.
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 .
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9
Response If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Reading 2 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen.
Gospel Mark 1:21-28
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are in the synagogue at Capernaum on the sabbath. You hear Jesus teach and watch him heal the man with an unclean spirit. What are your thoughts and feelings? Are you, like the people, astonished and amazed?
Sunday Snippets
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a quarrel early in their marriage. Albert walked out and went to his room. Victoria followed him. She found the door locked and began pounding on it.
“Who’s there?” Albert asked. “The Queen of England,” was the reply. The door remained locked.
More pounding followed. There was only silence. Then a gentle tap. “Who’s there?” Albert inquired. Victoria replied: “Your wife, Albert.” Albert opened the door immediately.
What made Albert open the door was not the authority that came from the power and status of the Queen of England, but an authority that came from a personal relationship.
That is the kind of authority that Jesus had.
After he called his disciples, Jesus continues his public ministry: he teaches at Capernaum and casts out an unclean spirit. The people are astonished because he taught and healed as one having personal authority unlike the scribes who derived their authority from their role/status.
The crowd cannot identify the source of this authority. The unlikely voice of “a man with an unclean spirit” does: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” At the end of Jesus’ ministry, another unlikely voice—the Roman centurion—will identify Jesus: “This man was the Son of God!”
Jesus derived his authority from his intimate and personal relationship with his father.
Jesus’ exercise of this authority, too, was different. He told his disciples that they ought not to flaunt their authority but to serve... as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.
He powerfully demonstrated this often: by his compassion in feeding the multitude, by reaching out to the marginalised, by washing his disciples’ feet at the last supper, by cooking breakfast for them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
From where do I derive my authority: from my role/ status/ power or from my relationship with my God? How do I relate with others: from power or through relationship?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Does God raise ordinary people from our midst to become prophets? Is there a cause for which I might become a prophet?
Reading 2: What are the anxieties I feel most? Do you have a way to deal with them? What can I do to control my anxieties?
Gospel: Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” From where did Jesus derive his authority? From where do I derive my authority, and how do I exercise it: for myself or for others?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: In these confusing times let us pray to our reliable God for men and women who can speak his word to us with the assurance and authority of faith: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that the authoritative teachings of Jesus will guide and challenge us as we seek to be more authentic disciples, we pray…
R: For all who exercise authority: they may use their authority as Jesus did, to free people, to heal the sick, and to build up the community, we pray…
R: For all who have mental and emotional illness: that God’s love may strengthen, heal, and sustain them and help us to accompany them along life’s journey, we pray…
R: For all who are suffering: that God may heal the sick, protect those affected by war, guide the unemployed to new job opportunities, and help families find sufficient food, we pray…
R: For greater care for the earth and its resources: that we may be good stewards of the earth and protect its resources for future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that each of us may seek God first in our lives and love others with the love with which God first loves us, we pray…
L: Lord our God, make us attentive to your word and let it become alive in us by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Lord, our hope is that
you will amaze us with your deeds;
win us with your words;
spellbind us with your love.
Let us, with you,
cast out unclean spirits from this world:
human trafficking, the pandemic, the climate crisis,
racial bias, poverty, greed, war.
Let us, like you,
use our authority and power
for the good of all,
especially the poor, the oppressed, the outcast, the lonely,
and not to further our glory.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: All-loving and faithful God,
you have brought us more closely together
by your mighty word.
Keep speaking your liberating message
even in the commonplace events of life.
Open our ears and hearts
to your ever-new language
and let it lead us to you. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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