22/01/2006 - 3rd SUNDAY OF Ordinary
Time - Year B
Octave of prayer for Christian Unity
First Reading Johah 3:1-5; 10 Psalm 24-25
Second Reading 1 Peter 7:29-31 Gospel Mark 1:14-20
You shall not have other gods before me! Who is the God who speaks here? He
is the one who can add: "I have freed you from the land of Egypt"!
He is the one who cared for the people and for their freedom, who kept the promises
of salvation and who can still make suggestions. He is the only one, whom we
can be sure that His Commandments have no hidden agenda, and who will not deceive
us, or disappoint us. "I am God, the same God for all eternity" (Is.
43:12-13). We, then, by living a new time and knowing this God, through the
life of Jesus, know that He is the God who knows what we need. He is the One
who makes the sun rise and the rain fall on the just and the unjust, who counts
the hairs on our head, who sent His Son to suffer for us. You shall not have
other gods before me! We will not look for assurance in anyone else, we will
not have faith in the dreams of our own fantasy and yearning, we will not allow
ourselves to be ordered and guided by things, money, success, fashion or amusements.
God, Himself, prohibits it! He knows that, if we look for joy anywhere, but
through Him, we will have nothing but delusion and suffering. We will not be
able to sustain the love of the Father with anything which we, ourselves, may
choose or control; or that obeys us! Faith in the true God is hard work; it
requires responsibility. But the easy life of selfishness will not give us the
satisfaction that loving and being loved does!
"The Lord is righteous and just; the true way, suitable to sinners"!
The Psalm, between the Readings, is a beautiful response to the actions of God,
who wants to intervene and help to mend the ways of those who are on the way
to ruin, and to begin a new life by obeying Him. God's intervention is fulfilled
through prophets and preachers. That is why Jonah was sent to a city of pagans,
whose citizens were living "an evil way of life". Jonah was given
the responsibility of prophesying for them, though he did not even share the
merciful thoughts of his God. They didn't obey the first call and, because he
wasn't able to reach the conclusion of the task assigned to him, he followed
with a sincere desire to help in their destruction. Yet, despite his negative
attitude, the pagans recognized God's invitation, in Jonah's words, believed
them and were converted; they repented, and began a new life, and they obtained
God's mercy!
Jesus is much more than Jonah! He, too, is in a country where the elements of
paganism and faith in the true God are intermingled; a place which is thought
to be a land in the dark even by the prophets - the land of Galilee. He, knowing
that John was arrested, tries to take his place by encouraging conversion and
hope.
The four phrases with which the Evangelist Mark summarizes the preaching of
Jesus are very short and incisive. In the first two, He announces the good news
of the love of God: "The time is fulfilled"; that is, the right moment
has come, the time which you awaited for centuries, the time in which God offers
His salvation to man. We don't have to wait any longer, nor think about better
times, because now the time is filled with the love of the Father! This is the
moment to say our 'yes' to God, the moment to welcome his gift, freely given,
in our life! "The kingdom of God is near. Those reigns which man feared
are no longer frightening. We can now begin to serve the God of Israel, that
God who loves man and frees him from all oppression. We can be joyful, we can
enjoy internal freedom; we can look at God with affection, because He has kept
the beautiful promises of peace, of consolation, of forgiveness and of love!
The king has come; the king who rules with justice, who brings down the proud
and takes the power from the powerful; the king whom the great opposed, the
one who looks at the poor and the weak with affection.
The other two words are an invitation: "Repent and believe in the good
news"! "Repent": this word provides and opportunity to return
to God, who does not look at us in reproach, but only in waiting to give us
a new robe and celebrate with us! The same word suggests a going further; beyond
the thoughts of men, so that we can accept those of the love of the Father;
beyond selfishness, so that we can learn that which is freely given by God!
"Believe in the good news"! The Hebrews, to whom Jesus was preaching,
were faithful. What, then, does the exhortation of Jesus mean? It's as if to
say, "Believe according to the good news that I gave you; no longer believe
as those who fear punishment, but believe lovingly because you are loved! Base
your faith in the love of the Father and in my presence with you. Trust in God,
knowing that He loves you!"
In hearing the news, the first four who were called, two by two, all fishermen,
answer without hesitation. Following Jesus, the king of the kingdom that is
to come, is joy and security; even, though, at first glance, it might appear
to be insanity. Simon and Andrew and, later, James and John, leave the security
of their work and family to be faithful to God, through Jesus. The things of
the world, the more beautiful realities which filled us with emotion until now
have passed; they are now to sad memories. With Jesus, a new life has begun,
true and full! This is what Saint Paul repeats, with certainty: we can live
without waiting to have life and joy from human relationships and from the things
of this world, because we have everything, and then some, in our relationship
with Jesus!
By living in this freedom from things and from situations, and by placing our
faith on the love of the Father, we will be capable of living in union with
other Christians! We can enjoy as much serenity as they can offer us, through
their experience and their obedience to the Lord, Jesus, and we can share our
faith in Him, as a precious gift for their life!