HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B (8)

HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: JESUS; A PROPHET GREATER THAN MOSES AND ONE WITH AUTHORITY

BY: Fr. Cosmas Ukadike CM

 

HOMILY:

The promise of the coming of a great prophet, with commands to receive him and listen to him as seen in today’s first reading (Deut 18, 15-20) is thought of by many as the promise of succession of prophets, which should be kept for many ages in Israel.

But whether a succession of prophets is included in this promise or not, we are sure that it is primarily intended as a promise of Christ; the God-man and Messiah of mankind. This prophecy is expressly applied to our Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah (Matt 21, 11; Lk 7, 16; Acts 3, 22; 7, 37) and it was his spirit that spoke in all the other prophets (1Pt. 1, 11).

From the events in today’s gospel reading, it is clear that Jesus is the expected prophet, greater than Moses; for he taught the people of God in a new manner, filled with power and authority and they could see the difference themselves as compared to their teachers and scribes (Mark 1, 21-22).

The coming of Christ actual is to make a difference and renew ways of doing things in the world.

And he didn’t just teach them by words of mouth, he went ahead to show forth the power of God in action by casting out demons and unclean spirits (1, 23-26), this is a way of teaching them that all power and authority belongs to God and that no other form of power can stand where Jesus is, for he’s got all power and authority in his hands (Matt 28, 18).

Let us therefore thank the Lord our God who ceaselessly sees to the good and wellbeing of his children by always sending them prophets; to minister words of comfort and who in our days has sent us His Son, the culmination of all prophecies as our personal Lord and redeemer. May the teachings of Christ we hear today inspire us to accepting his words and to listen to him.

Have a blessed week.
Fr. Cosmas Ukadike, C.M.

Discover more from Catholic For Life

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading