Gospel (Mk 1,21-28) - At that time, in the city of Capernaum, Jesus, having entered the synagogue on a Saturday, began to teach. And they were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who has authority and not as the scribes. Then a man who was in the synagogue, possessed by an unclean spirit, began to shout: “What have you got to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? You have come to ruin us! I know who you are: the saint of God." And Jesus rebuked him: “Shut up! Get out of that man." And the unclean spirit, tearing him apart and crying out loudly, came out of him. Everyone was filled with fear, so much so that they asked each other: “What is this? A new doctrine taught with authority. He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!”. His fame immediately spread everywhere around Galilee.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus, with his small community of disciples, enters Capernaum, the largest city in Galilee at the time. He chooses it as his home and as the center of the small group of disciples that he had gathered. He does not retreat far away, outside the ordinary life of men. His gaze - together with that of the disciples - was aimed at the entire city, indeed the entire region. From here it must therefore be stated that it is characteristic of the Christian community not to be closed in on itself, but to have its gaze on the city as a whole, as a "community" of men that the Gospel must ferment with love. The Christian community does not have its own project to impose, but has the mission of introducing the strength of the Gospel into the fabric of a city. The evangelist notes that Jesus "immediately" goes to the synagogue and starts teaching. The first "service" that the Church carries out in the city is to communicate the Gospel. Jesus does not delay the announcement. What really matters is communicating the Gospel with authority, that is, with the authority of love, as Jesus himself did. He spoke with authority and not like the scribes. What does it mean? It means that the Lord tended to touch people's hearts to change them, to make them better, to make them beat with that mercy that he himself experienced. The Gospel is a demanding word: it asks for a change of heart and profoundly transforms those who welcome it. This is why everyone who listens to him is amazed. Jesus differs from the scribes: he doesn't just say words, he wants to change the lives of those who listen to him. And he immediately shows what kind of authority he has by freeing a man possessed by an unclean spirit. The Gospel is an authoritative word because it does not oppress. On the contrary, it frees men and women who are still possessed today by the numerous evil spirits that enslave them.