Click here for today’s Scripture readings.
Dt 18:15-20
1 Cor 7:32-35
1 Cor 7:32-35
We live in an age of information overload. The internet gives us all kinds of information sometimes spewing forth contradictory thoughts often based on the opinions of others. Add to that the incessant chatter of the cell phone, the unending text messaging, the television, print and the electronic media. All of them constantly screaming for us to listen to them, each one claiming that they are the sole possessors and teachers of undeniable truth.
Who are we to believe, who is able to sound a clear, certain and clarion call, who can positively assure us unequivocally that they really possesses the truth?
The Jewish people in the Synagogue that day when Jesus began his public ministry had a similar problem. The scribes who instructed them never asserted anything on their own authority but always gave their teaching by quoting what someone else had said before them.
Imagine, for a moment, the excitement of that day when Jesus began to preach on his own authority, with clarity and certitude. The gospel tells us the people were astonished!
To convince them of his authority Jesus ordered the unclean spirit to come out a man and he does! No wonder Jesus’ fame spread throughout the whole region of Galilee.
If we want to find the truth that will provide us with a full and meaningful life amid the cacophony of voices shouting for our attention, we simply have to listen to that one voice that instructs us clearly and with authority – the voice of Jesus found in the Gospel. He assures us that he is the way, the truth and the life. We will not be led astray listening to him.
As St. Paul counsels us, “So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. “(Eph. 6:14-15)
- Fr. Stephen Haslach, C.P.
