You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Gospel text (Mk 1,21-28):
Jesus and his disciples went into the town of Capernaum and began to teach in the synagogue during the Sabbath assemblies. The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the Law. It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue and he shouted, «What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: You are the Holy One of God». Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, «Be silent and come out of this man!». The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him.

All the people were astonished and they wondered, «What is this? With what authority he preaches! He even orders evil spirits and they obey Him!». And Jesus' fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

Saint Mark presents Jesus while teaching in the synagogue and, immediately, he comments: «The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority and not like the teachers of the Law» (Mk 1:21).

So how does this apply to us?

Our ordinary lives are both a challenge and an opportunity to live zealously for Christ. He does not leave us orphan to his mission. He has given us a Church to constantly remind us that the supernatural should be part of our lives. Within the Church, he gives us the Sacraments, in particular the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to infuse us with the grace needed to live with zeal for him. He gives us his Word, to teach us his ways. He asks us to spend quality time with him in prayer, to commit every day to him.

Are we frequenting his grace in the Sacraments, in his Word, and in prayer? Are we frequenting the extraordinary? If not, how will our ordinary ways prepare us to courageously say yes to him? May this “Ordinary Time” find us redefining ordinary by the way we live for Christ extraordinarily.