WITH AUTHORITY

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 12 January 2016

WITH AUTHORITY

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Here is a teaching that is new,” they said, “and with authority behind it.” (Mark 1:21-28)

Reflection. “Authority!” We use the word all the time and we have given it the basic meaning of ‘those in charge.’ We have flattened the word so that it has lost its vitality. Here Jesus is ‘in charge’ of no one but he is communicating a power for life. He is freeing people by his words and actions, releasing energy within people as they begin to recognise their capacity for growth, for love, for imagination. They rejoice because he touches something deepest within them. After hearing him they find themselves open to horizons they never dreamt existed. So it is with the great authority figures of history. Mandela, for example, or Shakespeare.

Prayer. Lord, may we pay attention to your power within us! Amen.