WITH AUTHORITY

PRAYER MOMENT                      

Tuesday 2 September 2014

WITH AUTHORITY

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.” (Luke 4:31-37)

Reflection. What does it mean to ‘speak with authority’? Clearly there was something new about the way Jesus spoke. We can imagine that people were not being lectured at, shouted at, spoken down to or hooked by being entertained. Rather they were nourished because the speaker was touching nerves in their own experience. He was ‘connecting.’ He was in a dialogue with the people – not in the sense that it was an question and answer session. The people probably rarely spoke, but they sensed that what he was saying touched their own experience and drew them forward. Jesus excited people. He astonished them by his ability to touch what was deepest in them. Pope Francis says, ‘the proclamation of the word of God is a dialogue between God and his people’ (EG #137). ‘The preacher has the wonderful but difficult task of joining loving hearts, the hearts of the Lord and his people’ (EG #143). ‘Authority’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘to grow.’  Jesus enabled people to grow.. .  .

Prayer. Lord Jesus, you spoke with authority. Open our hearts to hear your word so that it links up with our own experience and nourishes us. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ