{"id":678,"date":"2015-02-01T09:49:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T14:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=678"},"modified":"2015-03-20T09:51:39","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T14:51:39","slug":"speaking-with-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=678","title":{"rendered":"Speaking With Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/span><\/h2>\n

Dt 18: 15-20; 1 Cor 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28<\/span><\/h2>\n

Deacon Larry Brockman<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no lack of folks speaking on moral issues in our time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We have all those televangelists out there; and all those folks on Christian radio filling the airways.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And there are spokespeople for all the denominations of Churches.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And then there are the secular moral advocates.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They say different things about important issues on faith and morals.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So, how do you know when God is speaking to you through these people?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Well, you should look for someone who speaks with \u201cauthority\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The dictionary defines authority as \u201cpower to exercise judgment, make decisions, or command that something be done\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was clear that God tells Moses that he will raise up prophets from among the Jews who will talk in God\u2019s name.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Clearly, those prophets spoke with authority- God given authority because God granted them the power to speak in His name.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And during the course of Old Testament History, God did use His prophets to shepherd His people.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He warned them when they began to go astray; he told them what to look for in a Messiah; and he consoled them with hope when they were in exile.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But along with the real prophets, there were many false prophets.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>These prophets may have had power granted to them by their rulers or have assumed authority by virtue of their knowledge.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But their message was flawed, because the authority they claimed came from the wrong power, not the power of God.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The people of the Old Testament frequently ignored, and even persecuted the real prophets because they prophesied things the people did not want to hear.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Unfortunately, God\u2019s real message is often something we don\u2019t want to hear.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So, we need to be in tune for what constitutes real authority, not what constitutes the most palatable message.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Jesus day, the Scribes and Pharisees supposedly spoke with authority.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Their authority was based on scripture- literal interpretation of Jewish law derived from the Jewish scriptures.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In today\u2019s Gospel, we see Jesus speaking with authority.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus, as God become man, had authority by virtue of the power of God.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>When Jesus spoke, things happened- demons were driven out; and people were cured.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But more than that when Jesus spoke, the words had a ring of truth to them.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They had a quality that cut through the arguments of the Jewish leaders of the time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus words contradicted strict observance of the law because His authority was based on God\u2019s will, and God\u2019s will was that we act with a loving heart.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now Jesus delegated his authority to the Church on Holy Thursday when he commissioned the Apostles to go out and Baptize everyone and to celebrate the Eucharist, a sharing of His own body and Blood. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>So, the Church shares real authority just like the Old Testament Prophets did.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, there are many self- proclaimed experts who compete with the Church.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Some are the televangelists and radio evangelists who speak for competing denominations. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And to be sure, many of them spread God\u2019s word and do much good.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But they sometimes fall into the same trap as the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus time by emphasizing the Bible alone.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That is because the real authority comes from God; not directly from man\u2019s interpretation of the Bible.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Others speak with secular authority; a sort of pluralistic authority that takes into account multiple faiths and cultures.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Today, these \u201cauthorities\u201d are attempting to impose a new way of thinking about marriage, homosexuality, individual rights and a host of other issues involving faith and morals.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What matters in the end, is whether or not they speak with real authority.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They don\u2019t, because the only real authority on these issues is God and God speaks through His Church.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In the last several years, I have come to appreciate the Catholic Catechism more and more.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The Catechism is a document that speaks with authority.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The arguments cut through the secular mishmash of today, and provide clear guidance for moral issues that have been clouded up by the false prophets of today.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I urge all of you to consult the Catechism for the truth because the Church speaks with the authority of God. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 18: 15-20; 1 Cor 7: 32-35; Mark 1: 21-28 Deacon Larry Brockman \u00a0 There\u2019s no lack of folks speaking on moral issues in our time.\u00a0 We have all those televangelists out there; and all those folks on Christian radio filling the airways.\u00a0 And there are spokespeople for all the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[327,328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":679,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}