The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday, 28th January, is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. You can find the readings for Sunday’s Mass here. On our diocesan Liturgy Project website, Fr Anthony Fyk shares this commentary…

After a baptism, the celebrant performs an anointing with Chrism and says “The God of power and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin and brought you to new life through water and the Holy Spirit. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation, so that, united with his people, you may remain for ever a member of Christ who is Priest, Prophet, and King.” The anointing signifies our sharing in the priesthood, kingship, and prophetic office of Jesus Christ. Today’s scripture readings bring to mind the prophetic role of Jesus Christ, and by extension our share in this very office. We may have the notion that a prophet is someone who has divine or secret insight of future events that will come, but simply put, a prophet is one who points the way to God.  We are all called to be prophets. We have all received the divine call, as God’s children in our baptism and confirmation, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is a message of love, a message of justice, a message of peace, and a message of reconciliation.  Through our words and actions, we are to promote justice and peace, to defend the weak and rejected of society, to live a life of honesty and integrity following the pattern set before us in the life of Jesus Christ. This is only possible if it based on a firm foundation of prayer. Being a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, does not mean that we escape from the world, society, and culture we live in, but to the contrary, to engage with the world, to be a voice of truth, to speak out against injustice and hatred, and pointing the way to God, which is the way of peace, reconciliation, and love. We have nothing to fear, for God will put his words into our mouths, will strengthen us with fortitude to speak with authority. We may take inspirations from the numerous prophets of the Old Testament, or look at some modern-day examples, such as Damien of Molokai, Oscar Romero and Teresa of Calcutta.

Image: theliturgyproject.com