THE WORD
1Sm 1,9-20 / Mk 1,21-281Sm 1,9-20 / Mk 1,21-28
[Jesus and his disciples] came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
IN OTHER WORDS
At one community discussion called by the village chief back in Africa eighteen years ago, I was seated beside an old bearded man. I noticed he was listening intently to one of the speakers representing the government, a middle-aged, well-dressed man. After ten minutes or so, he raised his hands, asked permission from the moderator and in Setswana (local language) said: “Sir, I don’t mean to be rude but you have been talking so long, say something please!” Instantly, I thought of the saying, “Say what you mean and mean what you say”.
In the first reading, we met Hannah, a woman who practically spent her married life in the Lord’s Temple praying. The priest Eli having noticed her rather long extended prayers admonished her harshly. Hannah’s response “I was only pouring out my troubles to the Lord”, was an admission that too much talking to the Lord is super uous and that few words from the heart are all that matter. This merited her favor from the priest and most importantly the granting of a male child by God. Hannah’s story shows how ‘meant’ prayers are rewarded.
Jesus demonstrated in the Gospel how even with few words he could make miracles happen so that his amazed and mystified listeners would exclaim, “What does this mean? A completely new teaching in a spirit of authority!” All he did was to ‘say what he meant and mean what he said’, and this made all the difference in his talking and in his preaching.
- Fr. Emil Pati, SVD | San Fernando, La Union
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
