Let Us Seek the Kingdom of God

By Stephen Langsianmunga Malneu csc –

Readings: Jon 3:1-5, 10; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

We are in the third Sunday in the ordinary time and the first reading speaks of God’s call to Jonah for a second time. This time he responds to the call obediently. In fact, his word touches the hearts of the pagan Assyrians that the entire people turned to God with a sincere repentance of heart, and God relented from punishing them. Similarly, we find that Jesus begins his public ministry with the call to repentance and calling the people to believe in the gospel. In his ministry, while passing along the sea of Galilee, he calls the first disciples, who then respond immediately, leave everything, and follow him. Both the first and the gospel readings have close connections to our life situations.

Like Jonah, we do fail to respond to God’s invitation to bring people closer to God. In fact, we accuse people of their illicit acts rather than helping them to realize their wrong doings. We are called to be instrumental for growth of the Kingdom of God in whatever way possible like the first disciples whom Jesus called. On most occasions, when we look at our human relationships, our experiences would tell us that there are people whom we considered worse than us and we can even count the sinful acts committed by them. This kind of experiences often leads us to think that we are more holy than they are.

In reality, it may not be so. God looks at our heart, the worst people are also given the grace to repent before God with complete sincerity. May we seek the Kingdom of God and be more responsible to our calling so that others may experience God’s love and grace.