On this Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church teaches us more about what it means to live out our created missional identities. In our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the People of Israel that God will raise up a prophet like him in the future. As Tony explains, these words simultaneously speak of the Prophetic Tradition of Israel, foretell of the coming Messiah, and also of those to Whom He gives a share in His life through the Sacrament of Baptism. Accordingly, we are called to live prophetic lives. To do so requires a great deal of courage in our own time and place, but also provides the opportunity to make God’s merciful love known and present in our world.
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9
Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
Tony Crescio is the founder of FRESHImage Ministries. He holds an MTS from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a PhD candidate in Christian Theology at Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the intersection between moral and sacramental theology. His dissertation is entitled, Presencing the Divine: Augustine, the Eucharist and the Ethics of Exemplarity.
Tony’s academic publications can be found here.