Tuesday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
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.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 144(145):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
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Luke 4:31–37
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.
Reflection
Paul says that the Spirit reaches even the depths of God. This is not knowledge gained by observation from a distance. The Holy Spirit knows God because the Spirit is God, and it is this Spirit whom believers have received. Christian understanding therefore begins as a gift before it becomes an achievement.
The Spirit does not satisfy curiosity by giving us secret information or a sense of superiority over others. He teaches us to recognise what God has freely given and forms within us the mind of Christ. The Catechism explains that the Spirit reveals the Son and disposes us to welcome him in faith (CCC 687).
To have the mind of Christ does not mean that every personal opinion becomes divinely authorised. It means allowing Christ’s character, priorities and truth to reshape our judgement. Such transformation requires humility because the Spirit may expose how deeply the “spirit of the world” has trained us to measure people by usefulness, status, strength or approval.
The psalm shows us what God’s own character looks like. He is kind and compassionate, slow to anger and faithful in all his words. His rule is not demonstrated by keeping the vulnerable beneath him. He supports those who fall and raises those who are bowed down.
This matters when we come to the Gospel, where Jesus speaks with authority. Human authority often announces itself through volume, intimidation or the power to make others submit. Christ’s authority is different. His word confronts what enslaves the man and restores what evil has damaged.
The unclean spirit correctly identifies Jesus as “the Holy One of God”. Yet accurate recognition is not the same as faith. It knows who Jesus is but does not love, trust or obey him willingly. We can likewise know religious language, repeat correct teachings and still resist the changes Christ seeks to make within us.
Jesus silences the spirit because its declaration does not come from discipleship. Evil cannot be permitted to define his identity or control the moment, even when its words contain a fact. Truth belongs within a relationship of trust and obedience, not merely upon the lips.
When Jesus commands the spirit to leave, the man is thrown down but not harmed. That small detail reveals the purpose of Christ’s power. He has not come to destroy the sufferer but to separate him from what has taken hold of his life. His authority is severe towards evil and protective towards the person.
The Catechism teaches that Jesus’ exorcisms free people from the domination of demons and anticipate his decisive victory over the ruler of this world (CCC 550). They are signs that the kingdom of God is not an abstract idea. In Christ, God enters human captivity and acts to restore freedom.
This brings the First Reading and Gospel together. The Spirit gives us the mind of Christ, while Jesus shows us what that mind seeks. It recognises evil clearly without confusing evil with the person who suffers beneath it. It confronts what destroys while working for restoration.
The gifts of the Spirit are therefore not ornaments for private spirituality. They enable Christian lives to bear the character of Christ. Wisdom, understanding, counsel and fortitude shape us for faithful action, while love, kindness, patience and self-control reveal the Spirit’s presence in daily conduct (CCC 1830–1832).
We should test our own exercise of authority by this Gospel. Whether our influence is exercised in a family, workplace, parish or friendship, does it merely establish control, or does it help another person recover dignity and freedom? Does our speech leave people diminished, or does it help those who have fallen to stand again?
The mind of Christ is not proved by sounding certain about everything. It becomes visible when truth and compassion remain together: when evil is named without dehumanising anyone, when power protects rather than exploits, and when those bowed down are helped to rise.
One line to carry today:
The mind of Christ is known by the freedom his truth creates.
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