When was the last time you found yourself astonished and amazed? What does it take to astonish and amaze you? In today’s Gospel, the people in the synagogue at Capernaum, according to the Gospel writer, were astonished at Jesus’ teaching and amazed by His power and authority to not only confront, but to overcome and drive out the unclean spirit from the possessed man. Jesus does not act on His own authority, but on the authority of His Father, to whom He is perfectly obedient. His power is not for show or to call attention to Himself. It is a power driven only by Love, a sacrificial love that is not bound by earthly realms.
Last week, I was watching the World News and lamenting about the terrible crisis tearing apart thousands of innocent lives in the Gaza Strip. They interviewed a pediatrician who came to offer her services to victims of the daily bombings, not soldiers, but children and babies, lying on blankets on what’s left of the hospital floor. I found myself astonished and amazed by the love I witnessed in that two- minute segment of the World News and thanked the Good Lord that there remain true prophets who are still capable of speaking truth to power and overcoming evil with good.
Sr. Michele Vincent Fisher, CSFN
