A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Hebrews 2:5-12
Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9
Mark 1:21-28



A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

As we leave the Christmas and Epiphany seasons and return to Ordinary Time, our gospel readings begin in St. Mark at the very beginning of our Lord's ministry. In today's gospel, we read, "The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes." This is a very important verse from Mark as it reveals both the then-current state of the faith and what was yet to come.

The scribes, along with the other religious leaders of the time, taught as though they had authority to do so, but the fact is that their hypocrisy and false religion disqualified them from being the true teachers of the faith. When Christ appeared, He spoke with such obvious authority that the masses saw what had truly happened: they had been taught wrongly, in many ways, and the truth was now upon them in this message from the Christ.

When we read His sacred words, we need to remember that these are the words of the Almighty God and that they speak the truth with complete authority. There is no other truth on earth.