A New Teaching with Authority

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. (Hebrews 2:10)

You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands. (Psalm 8:7)

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.” (Mark 1:27)

Piety

Jesus, I am powerless over the demon-like forces that threaten me. Command them to obey… and give me the faith to obey You as well.

Study

“What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.” It was the title of an album in my formative years, and the concept still rings so true.

• The vice of wrath in what may seem a perfectly appropriate situation can become insidious, leading to a habit of bitterness.
• The vice of overindulgence in sugar, alcohol, or a million other things in which we overindulge can become overpowering, leading to a habit of focus to the exclusion of all else on our next fix.
• The vice of self-flagellation over something we truly did have control over and messed up royally can erode our self-respect and dignity, leading to a habit in which we set up our ineptitude as a false god.

Sometimes demonic forces come into our lives full grown and powerful, and it is those rare cases that exorcism may be the only solution. But so much of the time, evil starts out small in our live and relatively easy to resist. The more power we give the devil, the more power he is happy to take.  Regardless of how much power we cede before we realize what we have done, the New Teaching Authority is always there to show us His love… and drive them out in the Father’s name. May we have the faith to ask for that help… and to obey as the purification is under way.

Action

Identify some small vices in your life that are becoming habits. Talk with Jesus about ways to command their removal. Consider reading Elizabeth Scalia’s Little Sins Mean a Lot: Kicking Our Bad Habits Before They Kick Us, either by buying a copy or getting one at your local library.

(Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Healing_of_the_demon-possessed.jpg)