January 29, 2006
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

A. Here Is a Teaching That Is New
B. Jesus' Healing Words and Hands

Readings:
Dt 18:15-20; Ps 95:1-2,6-7,7-9; 1 Cor 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28

Commentaries / Gospel Reflections from:
Daily Gospel • Preaching the Word • A Certain Jesus
Sundays Into Silence • Homily by Fr. Peter,cmf NEW

Greeting

Jesus spoke to people
the Good News of healing and life.
He speaks this same Good News to us
here in this assembly.
May his words stir our hearts
and bring us healing and life.
May the Lord Jesus be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

A. Here Is a Teaching That Is New

When priests or teachers speak to you about our faith as if they are reciting a lesson learned by heart, you will probably pay little attention. But when you feel personally addressed, if they speak from their own experience that shows that they deeply believe in what they say, you are eager to listen. That is the way Jesus speaks to us today. He addresses each of us with the force of his own life behind his words. We open our ears and hearts to him.

B. Jesus' Healing Words and Hands

Sick people feel very much how they are handicapped by their illness. There are things they want to do but can't; it is as if they are not fully human. We see this most strongly in the mentally handicapped. Today we see Jesus at work with his healing power. Not that he heals everyone who is sick, but he shows that God wants people to be whole and wholesome - that is what "healing" means. He wants us to become like him, that is, completely human, good and whole persons, not only physically but in every way. For it is then that we can fully honor God as his image. Let us ask Jesus in this eucharist to make us whole and wholesome.

Penitential Act

A. Here Is a Teaching That Is New

Let us ask the Lord to forgive us
for having paid too little attention
when he spoke his word to us.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you speak to us.
Speak to our hearts
and let your word liberate us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you speak to us.
Let your words make a deep impression on us
and give us the courage to change:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you speak to us.
Let your word move us
to become more and more like you.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
and drive out from us the evil of sin.
Fill us with your light and strength
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

B. Jesus' Healing Words and Hands

Sin is too often the disease of our heart.
We ask the Lord to heal us from all sin.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you came to heal us
and to restore us to life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, firstborn from the dead,
you have made us sons and daughters of the living God:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you made yourself one of us
so that we could see in you
the perfect image of the Father:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
and only say the word
by which you heal us from sin.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

A. Here Is a Teaching That Is New

Let us pray that the Word of God
may keep resounding in the world
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
you have spoken to us in our brother,
your Son Jesus Christ,
your Word that endures for all ages.
He lived as he spoke, and so his message
became flesh and blood and was reliable.
Give us in our day men and women
of vision and integrity
who speak in your name with authority
and who can translate this message for us
in a language we can understand.
Let their voices give direction to our lives
and stir us up to bear witness to your kingdom
of community and serving love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

B. Jesus' Healing Words and Hands

Let us pray to God
that he may bring us healing and salvation
(PAUSE)
All-loving and faithful God,
in your Son Jesus Christ you have shown us
what it means to be fully human
and you let him bring to all who receive him
the healing of forgiveness and life.
Let him touch us with his saving hand,
let him speak to us his restoring word,
that he may make us whole and free
and that with him we may fight all evil
and serve you, our living God,
and the people you have entrusted to us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction: The True Prophet Is God's Voice
      To God's people prophets were - and still are - the mouthpiece of God. They interpret his will with authority and direct the people toward God's future.

First Reading: Dt 18:15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying:
“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen.
This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said,
‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,
nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’
And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.’
Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name
an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,
or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Second Reading Introduction: Free for the Lord
      All are called to holiness; (Paul stresses the advantages of the charism of celibacy:) those who are not married are free to devote themselves to the Lord and his affairs.

Second Reading: 1 Cor 7:32-35

Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.
An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord.
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.
A married woman, on the other hand,
is anxious about the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
I am telling you this for your own benefit,
not to impose a restraint upon you,
but for the sake of propriety
and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

Gospel Introduction: Jesus Taught with Authority
       Jesus could teach with authority like no one else, for he was the living Word of God, God's own Son. By the power of his word alone he overcame the power of evil.

Gospel Reading: Mark 1:21-28

Jesus and his disciples went into the town of Capernaum and began to teach in the synagogue during the Sabbath assemblies. The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the Law.

         It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue and he shouted, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: You are the Holy One of God." Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, "Be silent and come out of this man!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him.

         All the people were astonished and they wondered, "What is this? With what authority he preaches! He even orders evil spirits and they obey him!" And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

 

Commentary

Moses declares to the people that there will come a prophet like him that God will raise up among them and they are to listen to him. And this prophet will speak only in the name of God, and God himself will hold him accountable for his words. We are told to obey this prophet. And Jesus enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and teaches with authority and power, like Moses! And someone who is mentally ill, distraught in mind and body cries out "What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? You who are the Holy One of God!" He is muted and given his own self/mind back by the Word of God. It seems those who recognize who Jesus is might be those among us who are the most twisted in mind and helpless to control themselves. But Jesus has power over all things, all peoples and all that is good and evil among us. Do we want to be seen and told, "Be quiet! Come out of them!" by Jesus?

Read also Sundays Into Silence:
Authority rather than power

General Intercessions

A. Here Is a Teaching That Is New

In these confusing times let us pray to our reliable God for men and women who can speak his word to us with the assurance and authority of faith. Let us say:
R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

- For the leaders of the Church, that they may receive God's word with humility and pass it on to us and to the world without fear or compromise, we pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

- For those who remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom of God, for priests and religious, that their undivided love of God may open their hearts to all people and all needs, we pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

- For those who speak in the name of people without voice or rights, that they may not be silenced by the mighty and that they may stimulate us to give all their due and even more, we pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

- For those to whom God's word is spoken, especially for those receiving religious formation, for couples to be married, of parents preparing for the baptism of their children, for those attending retreats and renewal sessions, that they may freely accept the word of God, we pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

- For all of us here, that the eucharist may give us the openness to receive with eagerness and joy and great simplicity the word of God as it comes to us, also when it upsets and demands, we pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.

Lord our God, make us indeed attentive to your word and let it become alive in us by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

B. Jesus' Healing Words and Hands

Let us pray to God who gives us healing and salvation. Let us say:
R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That in the Church we may bring to each other the healing of forgiveness and compassion, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That all who are ill may keep hoping that they will be cured and may at least bear their suffering in patience, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That all who suffer at a young age may experience the love and attention of people who care for them, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That we may have room and concern for the mentally handicapped and that we may give them a place in our heart, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That all those in hospitals and nursing homes may be given much human, loving care and be visited by those dear to them, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

- That in our communities we may dare to lighten one another's suffering and learn to share each other's pain, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your healing word.

Compassionate God, we know that you love us in sickness and in health. Be always with us and help us attend to one another, in Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

God, as we bring before you
these gifts of bread and wine,
let your Son speak to you in our name.
Accept through him our silence
and our meager efforts to give shape to your word
in the language of our lives.
Let this offering please you
on account of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Let us give wholehearted thanks to the Father, for he has given us Jesus who died and rose from the dead to set us free from all evil.

Invitation to the Lord's Prayer

Let us pray to God our Father
in the words of prayer of Jesus himself,
who can give voice to all our unspoken requests: R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy, keep us from being deaf
to the words you speak to us.
Let their sound convert us
and inspire us to prepare with joy and hope
the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus Christ,
let the star of your peace rise today
on the body of the Church
and on all who believe in you.
In its light, may we learn
to love and to serve one another
and to share the joy of your peace
with all willing to accept it,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord,
who taught a message of good news
with power and authority.
Happy are we to hear his invitation
and to receive from him
our bread of healing and strength. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God, in this assembly
you have brought us more closely together
by your mighty word
and the festive table of the eucharist.
As we return to everyday life,
keep speaking your liberating message
even in the commonplace events of life
and in the friendship of our brothers and sisters.
Open our ears and hearts
to your ever-new language
and let it lead us to you
by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

We know from life's experience
how powerful words can be.
At their marriage, husband and wife
accept each other's Yes to love
and they also give love to one another,
not just for a moment but for a lifetime.
Christ has spoken his word to us here.
It was a word of trust and love,
and it cannot leave us indifferent.
Christ makes us face a decision:
either to reject him and his word
or to give ourselves to him and his message.
May we accept his gospel wholeheartedly
with the blessing of almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit . R/ Amen.

Go and let God's word come alive in you. R/ Thanks be to God.

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Additional Resource Material for this Sunday

Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today"s gospel.

A Madman wants to enter
(Mk 1:21-28 )

(taken from the book A Certain Jesus, Vol. 1)
Click here for other Readings --> Index of A Certain Jesus