Today’s first reading is from the Letter of St. Jude. At the end of the reading, we read, “To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling…be glory, majesty, power and authority from ages past, now and for ages to come. Amen.” We also see the word authority in our Gospel reading from Mark 11. The cheif priests, the scribes and the elders ask Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things?”
Jesus asks them a trick question and tells them that if they can answer the question, He will tell them by what authority He does these things. Naturally, they do not answer the question. And Jesus fulfills His part of the bargain and doesn’t tell them. But of course we know the answer.
Jesus’ authority comes from the Father. But does knowing that make a difference in our lives? Do we live under the authority of Christ? And what about the authority that Christ has passed down to His Church? Authority is a tough thing for us to deal with sometimes. We like to be rugged individualists. The bumper sticker tells us to “Question Authority.” But when the authority comes from God, perhaps we should question less and accept more.
Father, teach us to be submissive to your authority. Amen.
0 comments