From: Luke 4:31-37

Jesus Preaches in Capernaum

[31] And He (Jesus) went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And He was
teaching them on the Sabbath; [32]and they were astonished at His teaching,
for His word was with authority.

The Cure of the Demoniac

[33] And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean de-
mon; and he cried out with a loud voice, [34] “Ah! What have You to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Ho-
ly One of God.” [35] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out
of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out
of him, having done him no harm. [36]And they were all amazed and said to one
another, “What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the un-
clean spirits, and they come out.” [37] And reports of Him went out into every
place in the surrounding region.

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Commentary:

33-37. Jesus now demonstrates by His actions that authority which was evident
in His words.

34. The demon tells the truth here when he calls Jesus “the Holy One of God”,
but Jesus does not accept this testimony from the “father of lies” (John 8:44).
This shows that the devil usually says something partially true in order to dis-
guise untruth; by sowing confusion in this way, he can more readily deceive
people. By silencing and expelling the demon, Jesus teaches us to be prudent
and not let ourselves by deceived by half-truths.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ©

The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

Psalm

Psalm 144:8-14 ©

The Lord is just in all his ways.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

compassionate to all his creatures.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,

and your friends shall repeat their blessing.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign

and declare your might, O God,

to make known to men your mighty deeds

and the glorious splendour of your reign.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

Yours is an everlasting kingdom;

your rule lasts from age to age.

The Lord is faithful in all his words

and loving in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who fall

and raises all who are bowed down.

The Lord is just in all his ways.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Or	Lk7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.