Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Or Optional Memorial of St. Hilary of Poitiers (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
Jesus’ Authority to Cast Out Demons

Today, the Church celebrates the optional memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. The records of the martyrs tell us that this bishop and doctor was born in the late 3rd century or early 4th century. At that time, the Arian heresy became prevalent among Christians. In the year 353, St. Hilary was elected bishop. During the early days of his episcopate, he was not well acquainted with this heresy. It was only after he was exiled that he began to study the Arian heresy and wrote numerous works to refute this heretical doctrine.

Today’s Mass Gospel is taken from the Gospel of St. Mark. The evangelist tells us that Jesus came to the synagogue in Capernaum and proclaimed the truth of the Kingdom of God to them. He did not continue the teachings of the scribes. For the God proclaimed by the scribes was a distorted image of God. This is similar to what we sometimes see in our Church today. When we participate in the Mass in the church, our parish priest, during the Liturgy of the Word, delivers a homily. When we listen to God speaking to us through them, if their homilies are different from what we are accustomed to hearing, we may be surprised. At that moment, we tend to judge based on our own understanding rather than according to God’s holy will.

Today, St. Mark tells us that Jesus not only preached in the synagogue but also, with the authority of the Son of God, cast out the unclean spirit there. This powerfully refutes the Arian heresy, for the Arian heresy claimed that since Jesus Christ was begotten by God the Father, He could not be as eternal, omnipotent, and omniscient as God the Father.

Dear brothers and sisters! Although we are not present in the synagogue of Capernaum today to listen to God’s word and witness what Jesus did for the man possessed by an unclean spirit, we should still stand firm in faith and fully accept the teachings of Christ in our daily lives. We should make good use of the various graces that God bestows upon us through His beloved Son so that our thoughts, words, and deeds may increasingly resemble those of Christ, and we may continually follow Him towards eternal life.

St. Hilary, bishop, pray for us. Amen.

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