Monday, February 12, 2007 Alipio: When you've earned the right to speak By Fr. Jose Alipio The Yoke
Mk- 1:21-28
EARLY in his earthly ministry, Jesus established the custom of preaching from the scriptures on the Sabbath. People were literally spellbound by the audacity and authority of his teaching.
For one thing, he did not have the formal training of the scribes who were the recognized authorities on biblical interpretation. Yet he dared to take scrolls in hand and expound on the scriptures.
For another thing, he did not follow the scribal custom of authenticating his interpretation by invoking the names of the great teachers of the past. He taught by his own authority, He explained what the scripture meant and how it should be applied without appeals to other teachers.
His long years of solitary study and training prepared him for this hour. He had earned the right to speak on his own authority.
There is nothing that lends our voice more authority than first-hand experience. That's what makes support groups so powerful. It's one thing to be told how to deal with our problems by people who have never struggled with those problems.
It's another thing to hear one of our own share their story -- to hear a recovering alcoholic tell us how he overcame his addiction, to hear a cancer patient explain how she coped with her loss, to learn from the husband of an Alzheimer's patient how he coped with his wife's disease.
There is something to be said for supportive silence when we have not walked in another person's shoes. We probably need to keep our advice to ourselves if we don't know what the other person is going through. But there is duty to share our experience when we have earned the right to speak.
