HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: THE POWER IS IN YOU

BY: Fr. Johnbosco Obika

HOMILY: Mark 1:21-28

No one is more miserable than one who has such an enormous power but cannot use it. The most pitiable should be the one who has authority but cannot influence with it due to lack of knowledge of such or fear. Child of God know who you are, don’t be miserable.

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JESUS HAS THE FULNESS OF POWER AND AUTHORITY
In Christ we see both power, authority and influence at work. Matthew 28:18 he says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” Jesus was well aware of His power and authority and He used them to influence the lives of all who encountered Him.
Jesus entered the Synagogue and began to preach. His words made impact on those who heard them He gripped His audience with words that melt the soul and touch the heart. This He did not achieve by the reason of the logic of His arguments but by the power of The Spirit and the Sanctity of His life. “He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law “.

REASONS JESUS MADE A DIFFERENCE.
The teachers of the law relied upon the flesh, upon great men, their teachings and their traditions as sources of authority, and quoted them copiously. Jesus, however, taught with divine authority as one from above.
The teachers of the law preached with human rationality and aimed at making people conform to formulated laws and rituals. But Jesus’ teachings were inspired by the Holy Spirit because He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring the good news to the poor. His aim was the salvation of souls. In Luke 4:18 Jesus said “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…”
There was a difference between what the teachers of the law preached and what they practiced. The words of Jesus and His practical life were the same.

The words of the scribes and Pharisees and scribes were sterile. But that of Jesus came with power. When Jesus was teaching with authority, power came out of Him and the audience felt; even the devil recognized it. One of the members of His audience in the Synagogue was a man who was possessed by evil Spirit. The evil spirit panicked and cried out, “What 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.”
In the same manner, in the world today, everything that is evil cries out against holiness, goodness and all that is godly. Materialism cries out, ‘leave me! Allow people acquire more and save more. No matter the means, the end justifies it’. Power cries out, ‘Allow man to possess power unlimited, to subdue and denigrate, to impose their will and manipulate others as they will’. Ego cries out for recognition and pride. The flesh cries out for pleasure without control.

EVIL CANNOT OVERPOWER GOODNESS.
If the children of God could rise up, speak up and live out their Christian calling. The evil spirit could not withstand the holiness and divine presence of Christ. So possessing the spirit of Christ provokes the devil. The evil spirit knew that its end was near and Jesus would destroy it.

EVIL HAS EXPIRY DATE.
The reason why Christ came to the world is to destroy the devil (John 3:8). By the power of the Word He cast the evil spirit out and the man regained his freedom of the child of God. No matter the grip of the enslavement by the devil, man can be delivered by the power of Jesus.
We too got the power and authority to influence the world and confront the devil by the virtue of our baptism. Christ has given us power over the devil and over evil in the world (Matt 10:1). The presence of a child of God shakes the devil. Our words and actions have impact against the devil and evil in the world. Christ has done everything for us by allowing us to share in His power and authority.

ALWAYS REFUEL YOUR POWER
Always read the WORD of God
Tap from the power in prayer
Visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, in him is the fullness of power!
Live a holy and righteous life.

DON’T COMPROMISE YOUR POWER
Some of us have compromised their authority as children of God and as a result their presence and words have little or no effect on the devil and evil in the world. Such people are now dancing with the devil and are friends with evil. They have lost their moral fiber and spiritual backbone to challenge the devil; and instead of becoming missionaries to the world, the world has become missionaries to them with its bad news.

Let us always have in mind the authority and power we possess in Jesus Christ. Let us go into the world and cast out the demons of hate, racism, oppression of the disadvantaged, adulation of power, worship of wealth and other immoralities possessing our society. When we do this, there will be loud cries and convulsions like the man possessed with the evil spirit in the gospel because change is convulsive.

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