Tuesday
of the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
January 14, 2014 6:30am
Today in the gospel we see Jesus
beginning his public ministry in the synagogue.
Jesus teaches.
In fact, the people are
astonished at his insight.
And then immediately Jesus casts
an unclean spirit out of a man.
He frees this man of the evil
that possesses him.
And here is the valuable insight.
Jesus’ teaching leads to avoiding
or reducing or even eliminating evil.
This is the purpose of his
teaching.
This effect is core to his
teaching.
So for example, Jesus teaches us
to forgive and to turn the other cheek and not to hold grudges or be vengeful.
This teaching leads us to stop
the evil of hostility from spiraling out of control.
It may even eliminate the evil by
leading offending parties to realize the wrongness or uselessness of their
ways.
Jesus teaches us to care for the
poor and needy, the least of our brothers and sisters.
This teaching leads us to be
charitable and just.
It also helps to avoid the evil
behaviors that can easily result where those in human need, where the have-nots
feel hopeless and neglected.
Jesus teaches that he himself is
the life.
He often heals the sick and even restores
life to the dead.
This teaching leads us to avoid
the evils of taking the life of the unborn or not caring for the life of those
who cannot access medical care or disregarding the life of the elderly.
So, this incident in the
synagogue gives us a wonderful lesson about Jesus.
His teaching is connected with
avoiding, reducing, and eliminating evil.
And so, it is important that we
carefully take in and own his teaching.
