Tuesday 14 January 2025

Today is Tuesday the 14th of January in the 1st week of Ordinary Time. The Good Shepherd Collective sings, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’. Can you make these words your own today? Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty Early in the morning Our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty God in three persons Blessed Trinity! Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before thee, Who was and is and evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see Only Thou art holy There is none beside Thee Perfect in power, in love and purity Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty All Thy works shall praise Thy name In earth and sky and sea Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty God in three persons Blessed Trinity Oh God in three persons Blessed Trinity! Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark. Mark 1:21-28 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, [Jesus] entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and 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.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Begin today by placing yourself in the scene… you might like to be someone in the synagogue, hearing Jesus for the first time… what does Jesus’ ‘authority’ sound like to you? As you hear the unclean spirit call Jesus, “the Holy One of God”, notice how you feel… what stirs in you? Now listen as the passage is read a second time for you. Does anything stand out for you this time? Hear someone say, ‘A new teaching—with authority!’ How have you experienced this “new teaching” and “authority” as you’ve been with Jesus in this prayer time? Speak with him now about anything that has arisen for you during this session… 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.