Gospel

he taught them as one having authority.
Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Mark 1:21b-28.

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus 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

The word of the Lord.

Give me patience.

We are not called to fight against external enemies, but against those within, because the evil that sometimes torments me is in my heart. The Lord has the authority to silence it and to drive it out from within me.

But what are God’s times? God’s time is not measured in hours, but in the heartbeats of the loving Heart of Jesus. His time is the time of His love. Perhaps I have to wait longer than I would like, but it is out of love. He knows when.

Applied to married life:

Fátima: Rafa, sometimes I get a little impatient with you, you know? Because you are so…, let’s call it “calm”, that I have to always wait for you…

Rafa: I’m sorry, Fátima, I was listening to the news and I didn’t hear you. What were you saying? I still haven’t managed to do two things at once. You know?

Fátima: It’s okay, never mind. It wasn’t important.

(Later, while preparing dinner)

Fátima: Rafa, what are you doing standing in front of the microwave?

Rafa: Nothing, I put yesterday’s stew to heat up.

Fátima: And are you going to stand there staring at the microwave for the remaining 20 minutes?

Rafa: Well, because it spins…, it distracts me…

Fátima: You know what I thought? I’ll put a kneeling stool in front of the microwave and a Sacred Heart on top. That way at least, you can take the opportunity to pray for a while.

Rafa: Haha. Okay. And I will put a little Virgin Mary shrine over each switch so you don’t leave the lights on.

Fátima: Haha, in the end, you’re going to make me laugh. Lord, give me patience, because if you give me strength…!

Rafa: Haha

(That day, in prayer, Fátima discovered that the Lord had placed Rafa precisely to help her become more patient)

Mother,

We experience the authority of the Lord in our lives. Praised be forever