January 21, 2018

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B Jonah 3: 1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-20 How active is God in my life? How much do I depend on God? Am I preoccupied with my own things? Am I aware of God calling me to help in saving His world? Do I feel important enough to help God in this? Mark is sharing Jesus’ words, “ The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Do I avoid these words because I don’t understand them? Do I have the attitude that these don’t refer to me since I am a good Christian/ Catholic? Do I just avoid them because I don’t want to think about the end times of my own life or the end times of the world? What really does God want me to do? Isn’t life about enjoying life? Is it about my likes and ways or is it about God’s ways? Today’s readings help us with a proper attitude and direction. Often in the Old Testament God is portrayed as a loving God concerned with His people. He sends prophets warning the people to change their ways. Their lives have wandered away from the direction of God’s plan and the commandments. They are to turn back and focus their lives once again on God which puts them on the God path…the way leading to heaven with God forever…this was Jonah’s specific mission. He was sent by God to Nineveh, an important city, an Assyrian City located near the present day Mosul in modern-day Iraq. It was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. It was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and one of the oldest and greatest cities in ancient times. It had become an important religious center for the worship of the goddess Ishtar. Like any capital city, the palaces, libraries and government buildings were surrounded with statues. Jonah estimated that it would take three days to make his way through the squares and plazas preaching God’s message. He thought these important people would never listen, yet it took less than a day for them to respond positively by changing their lives with fasting and wearing sackcloth as a sign of repentance. In a verse omitted from the reading, even the royal palace issued a decree mandating a sincere response to God’s word. The amazing point of the story was that this response was from a pagan culture. Never had the prophets in Jerusalem witnessed such a response even from God’s people. Long before the timetable of forty days that Jonah had threatened, the Lord has forgiven the people of Nineveh. They choose life with God. The irony is that in the last chapter of his work, Jonah is very upset that the people of Nineveh had repented and God had not punished them. He expected that God would not forgive this one time enemy nation. God’s ways are not our ways. Life is about God’s plans and how we are living in keeping with that plan; not about how I want to live. Paul is writing the Corinthians with the same urgency. He expects Jesus’ return at any minute. God is going to usher in the end of the world very soon. When He comes He will sit in judgment and decide who will be eligible to enter the kingdom of heaven. So Paul is urging the people to focus on the big picture, God’s picture. The concern is no longer the daily living with its trials, weeping or rejoicing or buying property or selling or trading; these are worldly concerns. The world is ending, the people’s ultimate destiny is to be with the Lord. Get working…reset your priorities. What are my priorities? I do not know when the world is ending. I do not know when or how the Lord is calling me to Himself. Am I ready? Do I live as if I have time or am I in-tuned with the Lord? Mark’s gospel does not contain an infancy narrative. He starts out saying: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].” The footnote in The Catholic Study Bible explains this sentence: “the ‘good news’ of salvation in and through Jesus, crucified and risen, acknowledged by the Christian community as Messiah.” Then Mark talks about the Preaching of John the Baptist. In verse 9 he gives a verbal portrait of Jesus by summarizing His preaching. He emphasizes that Jesus doesn’t speak about Himself but the ‘good news of God.’ He summarizes the content indicating two points: ‘the time is fulfilled…and ‘the kingdom of God is at hand.’ Do I realize the seriousness of Jesus’ message? Then Mark gives two vitally important messages: ‘Repent…and believe in the gospel.’ What does this mean to me and each one of us? These are the FACTS - what I am to believe and the ACTS - what I am to do with my Christianity, what I am to do to follow Jesus and live my life as a true Christian. These are not ‘thoughts for my consideration’…this is ‘my assignment from Jesus.’ “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Every one of these words are loaded. God’s time has arrived. God’s plan is now in the completing stage. It is now made visible in its total content on the way to its completion. The new reality is called the kingdom of God and has been initiated with the words and actions of Jesus. Radical change is not only expected but demanded. Each of these actions will be unfolded chapter by chapter in Mark’s gospel. Do I read this, the shortest of the gospels, with this intent? Mark then explains Jesus’ call of two sets of brothers: Simon and Andrew and then James and John. Their call to discipleship is a summons to change their occupation from fishing to ‘catching people.’ THIS IS AN IMMEDIATE INVITATION! They respond in a remarkable positive way. They left their family business to follow a total stranger. They had no idea where they were going or what they would be doing. How would they be able to pay the bills, raise their families, etc? WHY does Mark tell such a story? Sunday Homily Helps shares this response, “He wants to show that the motive for following Jesus is not based on knowledge, information, or discernment. It does not make any sense. There is a deeper reality at work here. These men are attracted to Jesus as if His heart and theirs were magnets. Discipleship is a matter of the heart which works by faith and not by reason. Eventually these disciples will struggle greatly as Jesus teaches them the real meaning of discipleship. It is all about service and not about power and prestige. It is about healing, that I am loved and I am needed to be love so people can know that they are loved. Am I doing this? Am I living in this way? This is God’s call. So I reflect on: • God calls me each day to discipleship and service. • He calls me to be His presence in the world in which I live and work. • Am I ready to make an immediate and positive response? • This involves my changing. Do I change? • What has helped me reorient my life to live the gospel message of Jesus/ Sacred Space 2018 shares: Had Simon and Andrew, James and John already been in the audience — in the synagogue, or at their mooring by the lakeshore—when Jesus first preached the coming of God’s kingdom? Had they already in some way sensed what Jesus was about? Did they already realize that in His work He was going to need followers? Whatever the case, when Jesus called them, they needed no second invitation. Is there something prompting me, telling me how I too could do more for Christ’s kingdom?