PRAYER PAUSE
Saturday 28
May 2016
BY WHAT
AUTHORITY?
Pause. Enter into the stillness of God
within.
Reading: “The chief priests and the scribes
and the elders said to him, ‘What authority have you for acting like this?’” (Mark
11:27-33)
Reflection. Jesus has just driven the buyers and
sellers out of the temple, provoking this reaction. The leaders are not asking
him this question to get the real answer but to trap him. Authority that is one
sided is no authority and so Jesus refuses to answer. If they really wanted to
know he would have told them and a dialogue would have been set up. We look at
how authority is used in our society. Is it a dialogue or an imposition from above?
Democracy seems to be the only use of authority that really sticks. Other forms
wither. It takes two – at every level of society – to exercise effective
authority. Authority comes from augere,
to grow.
Prayer. Lord, help us to listen so that
every use of authority is an exercise in growth. Amen.
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