4 February 2026 – Wednesday of the 4th week in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 24:22.0-17; Mark 6:1-6
H O M I L Y
Jewish law at the time of Jesus allowed any adult male to read Scripture in the synagogue and add a few words of commentary. No one in Nazareth denies Jesus this right. Their problem is that for the first thirty years of his life, Jesus was a villager like any other. So when he began to speak words of wisdom and perform healings, they wondered, ‘Where did he get this?’ What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and these great miracles that are performed by his hands? Where does this power come from? We know him; he is one of us. He is the carpenter's son. We all know the members of his family who still live among us. Not having the courage to draw conclusions from the facts they observe, they reject these facts and everything Jesus has accomplished among them.
We know that Jesus never sought power. He even rejected all forms of power. On the other hand, he acted with authority. That is quite different. He never performed signs or miracles to prove anything. There have been times in history when the Church has tried to use power to impose Jesus' message. Each time, the results were disastrous. Fidelity to its true mission leads the Church, on the contrary, to favour the method of weakness, which it can achieve through the practice of universal love. This is what the martyrs of Algeria, who were beatified a few years ago, and Madeleine Delbrel did. King David wanted to give himself the pleasant feeling of power by counting his people, and it cost him dearly – both him and his people.
In the tradition of Israel, there were three important figures: the high priest, the king and the prophet. Jesus came neither as high priest nor as king. He came as a prophet – the last of the prophets, clothed with radical authority and transmitting the words of God from the very mouth of God. Since his death and resurrection, his authority, which belongs to the whole people of God, is exercised by ordinary and weak human beings, charged with performing various services within the People.
The evangelical narrative that we have just read says that Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of his fellow villagers. One thing that is striking today is that we live in a civilisation of power. We easily think that we can change the world – or at least the people around us – by using forms of power.
At the same time, we often find it difficult to accept any form of authority. And one of the most difficult authorities to accept is that of facts. The authority of the reality that confronts us. Ultimately, we can easily accommodate the authority of a person, a superior. But we cannot manipulate or bend the reality that is before us. This reality, which is God's creation, with all its admirable complexity, constantly reminds us that none of us is the whole of created reality. We are only a very small part of it. And the radical obedience of faith consists in listening to the reality that surrounds us and which is an expression of God's voice.
This fundamental obedience to reality can take many different forms. In a community dialogue, for example, agreeing to honestly consider all aspects of a situation, all aspects of a problem, before proposing, accepting or rejecting a solution, is a form of obedience to God, since it is He who created everything that exists. This listening to reality is an authentic form of contemplation.
If I have this deep respect for objective reality outside myself, it will be easy for me to accept that any form of community life, in any human group, civil or religious, requires a certain structure, and therefore a certain authority.
Listening – listening to reality – is the first commandment. When Jesus is asked what the first commandment is, he replies: ‘Listen, Israel’. Listening is the first commandment. And if we listen to the word of God, we will love him with all our heart and we will love our neighbor.
And we, monks and nuns, know that the first word of the Rule of St. Benedict is also ‘Listen’... ‘Listen, O my son, to the precepts of the Master...’
We have just listened to the Word of God in the two readings we have heard. Let us also listen to the word he speaks in each of our hearts.
Armand Veilleux