Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 10, 2023
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
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!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
In our gospel today, we are not told the substance of Jesus’ message in the synagogue, but we do know clearly the effect of his presence on the people. To the gospel writer, that effect is the point. The key question here is, “Who is this man, and what is my necessary response?” Essentially, they wonder what authority Jesus has over them.
The Chrisian life is one long, active contemplation of this question. Jesus speaks with authority because God’s deep, deep love for us allows Christ to claim us as his own. When the man with the unclean spirit says, “What have you to do with us?” he is not only denying Jesus’ authority but also Jesus’ love for him.
Jesus rebukes him because Jesus knows he has everything to do with him—and with us. He calls each of us to himself with an authority that can only be born from the love of God who has sacrificed everything for us in order that we may be free to choose and accept his love.
How infinite must be Jesus’ love that he ceaselessly calls us to himself?
Jesus, teach us to trust in the reality of your love so that we may humbly submit to your authority with a continual joyful “yes.”
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you healed the sick, cast out demons, and cared for the lost and hopeless. Heal us from the damage caused by our sins, and cast out all hatred, jealousy, lust, and wrath from our hearts. And when we have experienced your healing touch, make us ready to serve you joyfully and to share your peace with others. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Gregory of Nyssa is the contemplative older brother of St. Peter of Sebaste and the brother of St. Basil of Caesarea. Gregory is a great theologian, honored by both the Eastern and Western churches, but his theology has only recently garnered the attention of contemporary Western theologians.
Gregory of Nyssa was born around the year 335 in Cappadocia, in modern-day Turkey. In his early life, sources seem to confirm that Gregory of Nyssa took a more secular career path than his siblings Macrina and Basil of Caesarea. His father was a great teacher of classical rhetoric, and Gregory followed in his footsteps. Gregory was married but was soon convinced by his brother Basil to join his monastery.
Around the year 371, Basil, bishop of Caesarea (who apparently exerted great influence on his younger brother's life choices) managed to get Gregory appointed the bishop of a small, politically insignificant town of Nyssa. As a bishop, however, legend has it that Gregory had a fairly eventful career—he was deposed by a synod and had to escape arrest by imperial troops. Despite these misadventures, Gregory was reinstated in Nyssa by the time of the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381. Thus, as an active bishop, Gregory was able to attend the council. The Council of Constantinople in 381 further solidified and defined trinitarian orthodoxy against several heresies, and purportedly further clarified the Christian Creed, resulting in the current iteration of the Nicene Creed that Catholics proclaim at Mass to this day.
Aside from his work with the council, Gregory himself made beautiful, dramatic contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity. One of his greatest works, Life of Moses, uses the story of Moses' life—his birth in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the journey through the desert—as an image of the soul's journey with God. Gregory gleans spiritual lessons for Christians of all walks of life from Moses' life.
In Moses' encounter with God on Sinai, when God says: "No one may see me and live" (Exodus 33:20), Gregory ponders the meaning of this encounter. He writes: "This truly is the vision of God: never to be satisfied in the desire to see him." Our ascent to God, our journey to see God is always one of desiring God intimately and this desire to be with God and behold his face never ends.
Gregory died several years after the Council of Constantinople, around the year 395.
Gregory's theology has been an important newly unearthed treasure for contemporary theologians, as it emphasizes contemplative union with God and the mystical desire for God. Gregory offers a wealth of mystical wisdom for the Church in a new century, a century in which Karl Rahner famously said: "the Christian of the future will be a mystic, or he will be nothing." Theologians like Rahner and Gregory remind us that union with God is not a calling only for great saints or theologians, but for all the children of God—for ordinary souls like you and me.
St. Gregory of Nyssa, Cappadocian Father, theologian, and mystic—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Gregory of Nyssa is in the public domain. Last accessed November 22, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
