By Fr Eugene Lobo SJ –
Third Sunday of the Year January 22, 2023
Readings: Isaiah 8:23-9:3, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17, Matthew 4:12-23
The readings of today tell us about the Christian vision and mission and are intended to stir us into action. The vision is seen in the proclamation of the kingdom of God to all people and the mission of every person is to proclaim the word of God to all. The Gospel of today tells us that the spread of Christ’s kingdom depends as much upon us today as it did upon the Apostles during the time of Christ.
The Gospel passage tells us that Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is the divine rule in the hearts of people. For his mission and task of proclamation Jesus invites an intimate band of people to be his disciples who would share his vision and mission and also become his witnesses in the world.
The First Reading of today tells us that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them great light have shined. Here prophet Isaiah reminds them that God’s light is always being offered to them a people who had suffered exile, oppression, fear and shame. He tells them that the people and their kings have turned down the invitation to come to true faith. Because they did not rely on God for security, the kingdom is destined to weaken and fall. Due to their spiritual weakness their land will be vulnerable to the invasions coming down from the north. But prophet Isaiah sees a future restoration initiated by the ideal king called Emmanuel in an earlier oracle. The rule of Emmanuel will make them wiser. Isaiah showed them that God through this new prince would bring them out of the darkness of Assyrian oppression into a time of light and joy.
Today’s Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians gives an insight that walking in the Light means to be united in Christ. He was writing to a community suffering with numerous factions and divisions. Each faction had picked its own hero instead of directing everything to Christ. In his letter Paul counsels them not to participate in factions within the church and between the churches. He appeals to the Corinthians to be in agreement with each other, that there must be no divisions among them. He tells them that in a faith community where Christ is present, there should be perfect harmony among the believers because of their fellowship and unity is steadfast with Christ. To make his point clear he addresses them warmly as brothers and sisters. During his time the Christians in Corinth were divided into factions and identified themselves with various community leaders that they belonged to Paul, or Apollo or Peter and some said they are for Christ.
Today’s Gospel Reading tells us about the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. The Evangelist tells us that after John the Baptist had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas, and as spoken by the prophets, Jesus withdrew “to Galilee” and began His own proclamation. The motive for Jesus making this move seems to be the arrest of John the Baptist. While no details are given about the arrest of John, it looks as if Jesus is continuing the work started by him, his own mission of God’s Kingdom. He preaches in Galilee and works in Capernaum which presents him as the light of nations as told by Isaiah but more precisely he begins on the western shore of the sea that was occupied by many small but prosperous cities and towns. This provided Jesus with the opportunity of ministering to a large number of people within a reasonable walking distance. Galilee was known as a rebellious region where even Jews were noted for their non-observance of the Law. Jesus begins his ministry in such a challenging place with the special chosen message and his preaching is summed up in one simple sentence: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near; it is close at hand.”
The preaching of the Good News of Jesus begins with the word, Repent. His invitation to repent is to enter into a special relationship with God in response to his call. For ‘repent’ usually means to be sorry for, to regret some wrong actions we have done in the past. Jesus is asking for much more than that. It is a call, not to wipe out the past, which is really not possible for any human person, but for a change of direction from now on and enter into a new future. The Greek word, rendered by many translations as equivalent to ‘repent’, is metanoia. This word implies a radical change of heart, change in one’s thinking, total transformation. It also means looking at life in a completely new way, making what is sometimes called a ‘paradigm shift’. This new way of seeing life is spelt out through the whole of the Christian Testament.
The Good news that Jesus preaches is that people have to repent and change themselves as the kingdom of God is near. It is the good news of hope, peace, promise, truth and salvation that is contained in the kingdom. Jesus comes to his people as the herald or the messenger of good news. His message of the kingdom has certainty and assurance; it has total authority and power because it comes from the source which is God himself. The Scriptures indicate that the kingdom of God existed at the foundation of the world. It is the authority of God over everything that he created for John tells us that everything was created in and through Jesus. The mission of Jesus now is to re-establish this divine kingdom. There is the immediacy and the urgency in his proclamation as he says it is here and now.
As Jesus began his public ministry his first act was to gather some disciples or co-workers who would share his work and his mission. Jesus recruited Simon, who is called Peter, his brother Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. When Jesus called them their response was immediate. They left everything, their fishing nets, their parents and family and followed Jesus to be Disciples of Christ. The story of the calling of the first disciples showed their immediate and unconditional response to the summons of Jesus. The initiative for the call comes from Jesus but their response was total. Even though they had no previous knowledge of Jesus, they dropped what they were doing, left all their possessions and their dear ones to be with Jesus. This calling his first disciples indicates the beginning of the time of the church. On the surface level this may not make any sense to an outsider. However, it emphasizes that there was something almost indefinable about the person of Jesus that drew these first followers like a very strong magnet. They left everything not knowing where all this would lead.
Today’s readings are intended to stir us into action. The Gospel tells us that the spread of Christ’s kingdom depends on us today as it was with the Apostles during the time of Jesus. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians counsels us today not to participate in the factions within our church and between the churches. Prophet Isaiah reminds us that God’s light is always being offered to us as it was to a people who had suffered exile, oppression, fear and shame. We who practice our religion should walk as those faithful people of old walked, allowing ones whole being to become flooded with joyous light. Light acquires transcendental quality, penetrating the soul, opening the heart and making our life open to the many who seek the truth.
A poor illiterate man wanted to be baptized. The parish priest asked him many questions to see whether he was fit for baptism. “Where was Jesus born? How many apostles did he have? How many years did he live? Where did he die? The poor man knew nothing of all these questions. Irritated, the priest then said, “At least you know prayers like the Our Father and the I Believe”? The man again shook his head. “What do you know then?” asked the priest flabbergasted. The man explained, “Before I met Jesus I was a drunkard who beat up my wife and children; I lost my job and was wasting my life.” Then he continued, “But after encountering Jesus, I’ve quit drinking. I work hard and have begun to love my family. For me Jesus is my personal Saviour!”
A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. They talked about so many things and touched on the subject of God, the barber said: “I don’t believe that God exists.” “Why do you say that?” asked the customer. “Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. If God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.” The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and said: “You know what? Barbers do not exist.” “How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!” No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.” Ah, but barbers DO exist! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.” “Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! That’s what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help.”