Third Sunday in the Ordinary Time (Year B) January 25, 2015 I. GOSPEL READING (Mark 1: 14-20) After John the Baptist had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him. Points for Reflection The episode takes place “after John had been arrested,” which indicates the end of John the Baptist’s mission and the start of Jesus’ ministry. The reading consists of two main parts: the summary of the Good News and the response to it. 1. The Good News The Good News is summed up in three sentences: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” The time of fulfillment: This phrase means “kairos,” referring to the time when something is ripe to happen. This is the exact description of Jesus’ appearance which fulfilled all the expectations and hopes of Israel. The long wait has finally ended and something new was about to begin. The Kingdom of God: “Kingdom” here means “reign,” which means more than simply a territory. The bible tells us that God would establish His kingdom for the whole world, not just for one nation (Psalm 103:19). His reign is “universal and eternal” (Daniel 4:3), “full of glory, power and splendor” (Psalm 145:11-13). Jesus is the anointed King who will establish on earth God’s heavenly reign – a reign of truth and justice, of peace and holiness. Wherever God reigns, there is the Kingdom. Repent and believe: These are demands of Jesus in order to live in God’s reign. Here, He takes up Johns message of repentance together with his call to believe in the gospel, the good news He came to deliver. Repentance means “turning around” from the unstable life of sin to a secure life in God. The normal course of action when scared is to run as quickly as possible towards the opposite direction. This is what repentance is all about: a change of heart, a change of orientation. During the life of exile in Babylon where they naturally felt vulnerable and unprotected, the Jews were repentant and longed to be home again. Thus, repenting for them means “going home.” In the gospels, Jesus tells us that we also can go home, because God welcomes us back and throws His arms around us. This is the good news that He tells us to believe in. It is time for us to come home! 2. The Response The second part of the reading is about the disciples’ response to Jesus, which is similar to the Ninevites’ response to Jonah. Their eagerness shows how God reigns. Within the hearts of these people, God prevails; and where God prevails there is the Kingdom and, thus, we see their response. Jonah and Jesus are personifications of God, in Nineveh and in Galilee, respectively. Their call is an invitation for us to participate in God’s saving work. The call is not so much about changing careers, disowning family, nor moving to a new place. Rather, it is about “letting go,” of orienting our lives towards a new direction where the little story of our life becomes part of a much larger story of the very Life of God, which opens us up to discover that this Life is already within us. When we let go, everything becomes transformed – including our nets, boats and fathers. That is why Jesus could tell his disciples that they would still be fishermen, but that now they would be “fishers of men.” They would not become something that they are not, but they would be changed. They would become transformed fishermen. They would more authentically be who they already are. As it happened to Simon, Andrew, James and John, as well as to the Ninevites, it can also happen to us. Let go! 3. The Urgency This call cannot just be ignored. “Time is running out,” Paul warns his community in Corinth, the world in its present form is passing away.” In our time, there is no better person to inspire us to act decisively than Pope Francis himself, whose words and deeds makes one sit and think. Here are some of his words during his recent visit to the Philippines that we can ponder on: In his homily at the Manila Cathedral, he summoned the bishops, priests and religious to examine their conscience and embrace the path of constant conversion. “How can we proclaim the newness and liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises with the ways of this world, our spiritual worldliness?” To our government leaders, he spoke of the urgency of rejecting “every form of corruption which diverts resources from the poor.” He urged them “to be outstanding in honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good” in order “to preserve the rich human and natural resources” with which God has blessed our country. At the Meeting with Families, he cautioned them against the many threats to the family. “While all too many people live in dire poverty, others are caught up in materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life.... The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.” He likewise warned them of the “attempted ideological colonization that could destroy the family.” To fight all these threats, he exhorted them “to rest with the Lord in prayer,” so that, like Mary and Joseph, they will know when to say yes and when to say no. Talking to the youth, he warned them of “becoming like museums, full of information but unsure what to do with it.” Museum-youths are not needed, but rather youths who are wise to take up the challenge of learning to love. Real love is opening yourselves to the love that wants to come to you, which causes surprise in us, he said. He spoke of how God surprises with his desire to love us, using the example of St. Matthew, who was content with all his money, levying taxes against his countrymen before he encountered the Lord. He was short of words as he addressed the victims of typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban: So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you. But the Lord knows what to say to you. All I can do is keep silence and walk with you with my silent heart.” He then invited the people to hold a moment of silence. Then, pointing to the Cross, he spoke of Jesus as “capable of crying with us, capable of walking with us in the most difficult moments of life. He will not let us down. He also spoke of Mary: “In moments of greatest difficulty, we must hold her and say, ‘Mama’. It is perhaps the only word that we can say in such difficult times: Mother, Mom. To the youth, a number of whom are victims of poverty and abuses, he said: Certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed by tears . . . Do not be afraid to cry. He noted that Christ cried, too, at the suffering of those He encountered. Christ’s compassion contrasts with the compassion of the world, which he described as useless. More than these messages, however, it is his simplicity and humility, the “child” in him, that make Pope Francis so powerfully able to lead us to conversion and to live in the Kingdom. II. OUR LADY’S MESSAGE: “DO NOT SIN ANY MORE” (Message 211) October 13, 1980 Anniversary of the Last Apparition at Fatima Manila, Philippines a. Today you are gathering here, in a cenacle of prayer, and recalling my final apparition at the Cova da Iria which was confirmed by the miracle of the sun. b. From this land, dear to me for the love and devotion with which I am loved and venerated, I make again to the world the anguished appeal which I made on that same day at Fatima and which summarizes, in a few words, the message which I came from heaven to communicate to you. c. Do not sin anymore! d. Do not offend any more my Son Jesus, who has already been too much offended. Return to God by your conversion, along the way of prayer and of penance. e. Alas, this message of mine has remained unheeded. And thus humanity has continued to hasten along the road of rebellion against God, in the obstinate rejection of his Law of love. Thus it has come even to the denial of sin, to the justification of even the gravest moral disorders, in the name of a falsely conceived liberty. Thus Satan, my Adversary, has succeeded in making you fall into his seduction. f. Many have thus lost the awareness of sin, and so, it is more and more committed and justified. The sense of guilt, which is the first step to take along the road of conversion, has practically disappeared. g. Even in those countries of the most ancient Christian tradition, the great crime of killing children still in their mothers womb has gone so far as to be legitimized. This crime cries for vengeance in the sight of God. h. This is the hour of justice and mercy. This is the hour of chastisement and salvation. The heavenly Mother intercedes before God for you because never, as in the present time, have you been so menaced and so close to the supreme test. i. For this reason I beg you to repent and to return to God. Through you, sons especially chosen by me and consecrated to me, my apostles in these latter times, I want this anguished appeal to reach to the very limits of the earth. j. From this blessed nation, upon which I have a great design of love and of light, I gather you all into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart. Points for Reflection 1. This Land Dear to Me This message from Our Lady is very significant because it was given here in the Philippines, particularly in Manila. And, it touches our hearts to hear her say that our beloved country is the “land dear to me for the love and devotion with which I am loved and venerated” (211 b), “upon which I have a great design of love and of light (211 j). This calls to mind the message of Pope Francis during his Mass at the Luneta Park in Manila last January 18, which culminated his pastoral visit and which was attended by more than 6 million people. “The Philippines is the foremost Catholic country in Asia; this is itself a special gift of God, a special blessing. But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia.” 2. Conversion: Her Call to the World From Manila, Philippines, Our Lady reiterated her message at Fatima, calling the whole world to conversion, to a return to God. “From this land, dear to me for the love and devotion with which I am loved and venerated, I make again to the world the anguished appeal which I made on that same day at Fatima and which summarizes, in a few words, the message which I came from heaven to communicate to you” (211 b). 3. Her Call to Us, Her Children Consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart “Through you, sons especially chosen by me and consecrated to me, my apostles in these latter times, I want this anguished appeal to reach to the very limits of the earth” (211 i). While this message is addressed primarily to bishops and priests - her sons of predilection - it is also a call to the religious and the lay faithful, as we all comprise her army of consecrated children. Recalling the words of Cardinal Luis Antonio Chito Tagle, when he spoke of the desire of the Filipino people to accompany Pope Francis to the peripheries of the world, let us also join Our Lady who wants her “anguished appeal to reach to the very limits of the earth.” We can easily do this - in our own homes, in our places of work, anywhere we meet people – by simply living our life of consecration to her Immaculate Heart and by leading others to a renewed devotion to her. Yours in the Immaculate Heart, Fr. Omer
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 23:59:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015