As Sirach says, when we were young and innocent, we sought wisdom from authority figures and were often comforted in being led by an elder. In today’s gospel, the elders question Jesus’ authority. I imagine Jesus smiling, answering their question with a question of his own.

We hear poetic words in Sirach. They pierce our hearts. We welcome the message. “My hand opened her gate, and I came to know her secrets. I directed my soul to her, and in cleanness, I attained to her” (Sirach 51:12).

Jesus leads us today to interior freedom when we hand our lives over in dependence upon God’s grace. The authority we are seeking is a place that dwells inside where wisdom is found in the security of God, who loves us as our father.

Saint Peter Julian reminds us in a letter to Ms. Antonia Bost (February 12, 1867): “You belong to God, are totally and always God’s: therefore, you must live by God, rest in God, and rejoice in God. Well, how can you do it, if not by holy communion? Therefore, you must receive communion, with your eyes on the heart of our Lord.”

Our Father’s authority has come to us through the life of Jesus. Can our love for our children be professed fully in words? Can our relationships with them be made known to others in any other way but by how we live?

Jesus makes known to us the love he has for God our Father. The Son speaks with authority. It is poured out to us by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Power is found in being docile to the grace we experience in eucharistic living, expressed in our love for God and one another.

Let Us Pray:

We pray for the precepts of the Lord to bring joy to our hearts. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament found this joy. May we follow her lead to the grace that is ours through the love of God found in the Eucharist.

Eucharistic Reflection – Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing (eucharisticevangelizing.com)
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