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Tuesday 1st Week OT
St. Luke’s Institute
January 13, 2015
AUTHORITY THEN &
NOW +++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
In
another age, we would have listened to what people in authority said, and we
would have believed them
Ø
In
the past positions of authority automatically conferred a certain weightiness
on the people who held them: parents, teachers, priests
Ø
However,
today we live in a culture that has grown increasingly cynical about authority
Ø
This
is partly because of our modern desire to take authority figures down so that
we might become freer
Ø
It
is also because authority has all too often been exercised in controlling,
manipulative, and even abusive ways
Ø
Today
fewer believe in something simply because “mom
told me so” or “the bishop decreed”
HIS AUTHORITY WAS
PERSONAL ++++++++++++++++
Ø
In
today’s readings we are offered an alternative image of authority, the
authority of Jesus
Ø
His
authority is not something automatically conferred by a certain position
Ø
It
is his life which gives weight to his words
Ø
Even
the unclean spirits recognize that his words have weight and authority
Ø
In
the Letter to the Hebrews we read about Jesus as the one who can lead us to
salvation because he has become perfect through suffering
Ø
So
it is the way that he lived and the way that he died and rose, that gave weight
to his words, authority to his teaching
OURS MUST BE
PERSONAL TOO +++++++++++++++++
Ø
As
followers of Christ, we too are called to speak with authority and preach good
news
Ø
However,
in a time when words are cheap and reality seems almost virtual, our authority
will be as weighty as the witness of our lives
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
There
is no other way. Our lives must first become weighty, consequential,
significant
Ø
And
we don’t have to wait to write our testimony talk for our day of commissioning
Ø
We
achieve that authority here each day
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
