January 29, 2012
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Athletes put hours into practice. It is not enough just to play the game. In practice a person learns the moves, discovers how muscles respond, trains all aspects of his or her body, and over time becomes so proficient at the selected sport that she or he can intuitively react during play. Practice in sports helps the athlete develop self-confidence. The same holds true for the musician, the salesperson, the new teacher. When an individual takes up something new he or she may initially be a bit shaky at it. Over time, we develop the skills so that something becomes second nature. A confident team takes to the field or the court with the belief that they will win.

In today's Gospel, Jesus is the confident, self-assured teacher. Yes, he works a miracle. But before we get caught up in that, we should look at how Mark portrays him. Right at the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum and starts to teach. Unlike the scribes who would appeal to the words of Jewish teachers to support their teaching, Jesus comes across as confident in his own authority. He has no need to reference what others have handed on. Instead, his teaching commands respect because he shows its truth through his deeds.

Like the athlete who is confident in his game, we can become confident in our faith by practicing it. As we see in the Gospel from the very first chapter of Mark, Jesus was confident in both word and deed. We can do the same. By reading the Scriptures regularly we become attuned to Christ's teaching. We absorb the knowledge, just as any good athlete memorizes all the plays. And by acting on Christ's teaching through our worship of God and love of neighbor we are performing the deeds of faith. The skills become second nature as we put into practice what we have been taught by Christ.

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All Saints Catholic Church is an active community of approximately 1,400 families located in Rossford, Ohio. Once two separate communities of faith, Sts. Cyril & Methodious and St. Mary Magdalene, the two churches were combined in 1990.

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