Yesterday during a retreat run by the Office For Catechesis for catechists in the Singapore archdiocese, one of the speakers, Edwyn de Souza, spoke about authority, what was it about the authority of Jesus that even demons feared and respected. The Greek word for authority is exousia which means something that flows from your very own being. This authority, this power flows when “your insides matched your outsides”.
Jesus embodied this authority for His was a life lived in and with integrity. Through the example of His life, we see how Jesus lived and breathed the good news of salvation, how He taught hope, how His healings brought new life, and how His unconditional love converted the hearts of even the most hardened of sinners. His every word and action radiated light, brought clarity, unity, and glorified the Father who only wants us, His children, to be one with Him in joy and love.
If we are truly His disciples, then we must do the same. We need to teach the world how to love as He did by exercising this authority of Jesus and allowing His truths to flow out from our very beings. Sound good but it is not as easy as it sounds, I agree.
Unlike Jesus we don’t have the privilege of being fully divine as He was. And yet, we can make choices that lead us down the road towards sainthood. The wounds of Jesus were caused by our sins, wounds He took on willingly to redeem our sins. If we meditate on His wounds, and if we are open to receiving the Holy Spirit (through prayer), then we are a step closer to integration each day.
Edwyn also encouraged all present online to be open to intentional authentic conversations with authentic people we have allowed in our lives to journey with us. So find those people in your life and let them touch your wounds, trusting them to speak truths into your life with love, and reciprocating in kind.
Truth may not be comfortable or sit well at times, but it’s not about feeling good and feeling safe all the time. Instead, it is about spiritual adventure, going places and creating change, much like the actions of the disciples we read about in the Acts of the Apostles that display the fervour and attendant miracles of exousia.
Seek integrity, seek the love of Christ which is all about cracking open one’s life and giving it away with abandonment. Along the way you will find authority and the ability to move hearts and minds just by being you.
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