FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - JANUARY 28, 2024

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The magnitude of God is often too great for us to bear in its fullness. Every mention of an angel of the Lord in Scripture or in personal revelations in the age of the Church mentions that the seer is frightened to a point where the angel must calm them by telling them, “do not be afraid.” If angels are mere messengers of God (and the messenger angels do not reflect nearly as much of God’s radiance as those angels whose sole purpose is to serve God in Heaven), imagine how unbearable it would be to stand face-to-face with God. Even the Word of God can be too much to handle; we know this because Christ was not accepted in his public ministry. The presence of God may be too great to bear, but through Christ, God made Himself accessible to us in our humanity in a radically new way.

READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE

Very few people in the modern age live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church; sadly, this also applies to self-described Catholics. What is it about the expectations that the Church has on its adherents that cause so many of us to eschew them? They are admittedly difficult, despite the fact that we can rationally come to understand how much better it is for us to live a morally Catholic lifestyle. In this Sunday’s second reading, Paul speaks to the Corinthians, laying out that the call of being a follower of Christ is only difficult for us because we tend to be anxious about the things of this world, rather than being anxious about the things of the Lord. He says that he tells us this for our own benefit, not to impose restraints on believers, but because it is a more noble, healthy, and happy way to live one’s life. Apply this to the image of God in the Old Testament, whose glory was too great that one would die if they faced Him directly. God’s magnitude is not in His appearance, though; we experience Him most tangibly in His Word, and even that can be too much for us to bear. This isn’t only for Catholics who may find it difficult to live a Catholic life; we hear in this Sunday’s first reading that the Hebrews could not bear to hear the voice of God, pleading that He instead speak through a prophet. As human beings, God knows that we cannot handle His full glory in our sinful state. As a result, He chooses to speak to us through His creation, using the created world, the senses, prophets, angels, and many other things to speak to us. That being said, we can get it wrong in wondering if certain messages are coming from God or from us; God tells the Hebrews that any prophet claiming to speak His message without being given that directive from Him shall die.

We can understand the hesitancy about Jesus when we look at this first reading. In this Sunday’s Gospel, the people speak about Jesus, saying that his message is “a new teaching with authority.” Their claim was one of fear; who is this that even the unclean spirits obey? But they were exactly right in claiming that this was a new teaching with authority. For the first time, God permeated through His own creation, taking the form of the created world, appealing to the senses as humans need, speaking as a prophet on His own. For the first time, we could look upon the face of God and live. This was not just a new teaching with authority, this was a radical shift in our encounter with the Divine. No longer were we afraid of God’s grandeur, but became afraid of His message, imploring us to be more and to strive for holiness. Fear comes in many shades; you may be frightened by the glory of God, or you may be frightened about the potential life He is calling you to lead. Regardless, we ought to take this new message of authority, and obey His authority: do not be afraid, and follow the Word of God every step of the way.