Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20]This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.
It can be somewhat awkward when an event that one has yearned for over a long period of time suddenly takes place. Yes, we have wanted it, but perhaps we have settled into the rut of yearning which then more or less defines us and leaves us unprepared for the event itself! The matter gets complicated even more when the event occurs in a way that we are not expecting. Not too many folks in Jesus' day were expecting a Messiah who was the son of a carpenter in a little town like Nazareth! He walks onto the stage of history and his message, like that of Jonah in the first scripture today, is a simple and very challenging one. The third line is the tough one! Much of the Gospel of Mark can be read in terms of the reaction of various people to the message given above. In today's gospel, the reaction of Simon, Andrew, James and John is almost immediately positive. A little later on, we'll see some negative reaction. Ordinarily January 25 would be celebrated as the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. His own encounter with Jesus resulted in what some people call the second "foundation" of Christianity! I don't think most of us will go quite that far, but we are still reading the message, as we are today. What is our reaction? Is it just a line in a story? Is it a life-changing piece of good news? Is it a "been there, done that" phrase? Does it make us glad or sad? Is it just "this Sunday's gospel" and there'll be a new one next Sunday? The people of Nineveh became a model to Jesus, who mentions their conversion after Jonah's preaching in one of his discourses (Matt 12:41). Can Jesus' good news ever get stale for us? Does the "time of fulfillment" or "the kingdom of God" mean anything to us? How about repentance and belief in the gospel? We could very well be in the same position as the original audience (maybe with lower expectations) and Jesus message becomes a modern challenge. What will be our reaction. AMEN
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