Gospel: Matthew 21:23-27
When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the
elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority
are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Jesus said to them
in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I
shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s
baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among
themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then
why did you not believe him? But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the
crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply,
“We do not know. He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what
authority I do these things.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Where does Jesus’ authority comes from? We know that it comes from God,
God gave Jesus the authority to preach, heal, exorcise those who are possessed
by the devil and so forth.
The ruling class at that time (Pharisees, chief priest and elders of the
people) were questioning Jesus’ authority because Jesus’ authority was more
powerful than theirs. People were starting to flock more to Jesus than to them
therefore they have to question His authority. Jesus never backed down with His
authority He held on to it until death.
Parent’s authority over their children is encompassing this means that for
as long as parents live they have authority over their children until mortal
death ends this authority. But why is it that many parents are being
disrespected by their children?
This is for the reason that many parents failed to properly role model
their authority over their children. They did not discipline their children;
they spoiled their children by showering them material things. They failed to
lead by example and they failed to introduce God to their children by teaching
them about Jesus and by bringing them to church for Holy Mass. Thus they
end up losing their authority over their children and the respect of their
children.
If we want to have authority over our children and with other people
under our care we must therefore be like Jesus. For Jesus exercised His
authority by being a good role model, Jesus led by example until the end, even
at the cost of His very own life.
How do you exercise your authority? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment