“Quiet! Come out of him!” | Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “O LORD, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands."

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 1:21-28)

The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he 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!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.

Mark describes a key event in the early ministry of Jesus as he reveals his divine authority in the synagogue at Capernaum by teaching and by casting out an unclean spirit. Mark describes Jesus' teaching and its effect four separate times in this short passage: "The people were astonished at his teaching"; "he entered the synagogue and taught:"; "he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes"; and, "A new teaching with authority." The interrelationship between teaching and his exorcism of the unclean spirit demonstrates that the power of Jesus is present in his words and actions. As the Son of God, the Word made flesh in the person of Christ, Jesus makes known the truth of the Father in life-giving words and redemptive actions.

God, you are present every moment of every day in the teachings of Jesus and in the sacraments as the Word made flesh. The astonishment of the people in the synagogue is my astonishment, at hand today. It is even a more present reality in the Church, the Body of Christ, and in the sacraments Jesus instituted during his earthly ministry. How can I not be astonished as I give thanks for the sacraments that are at their roots, as the Catechism teaches, from the actions and teachings of Jesus. The unclean spirit cries out, "I know who you are—the Holy One of God." In naming you, Lord, the Evil One has no power but is instead driven out to "prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls." Let the Gospel acclamation teach me today: "Receive the word of God not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God."

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.