4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the first reading, Moses, the great teacher and leader of his people, the one who spoke with God, promises his people that the Lord will send other prophets to speak God’s word.  And God is faithful to that promise for years with faithful prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and John the Baptist.

Yet, God had an even better plan and it begins to be revealed in today’s gospel from the first chapter of Mark.   Jesus is at home in Capernaum and joins the community in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  When He teaches, the people are amazed.  Here is one who teaches with authority, with energy, with a power that has never been seen before.  This young rabbi is unlike anyone else the people have seen or heard.

For Mark, Jesus is the Teacher who has come to reveal who God is, how much God loves us, and what God has in store for those who will believe in the One whom God has sent.  What is first seen today will all develop over time.  For now, the people are left to marvel at this man who is in their midst.

Immediately, however, it is clear that the demons recognize who Jesus is.  They know that He is the Holy One of God who has come to destroy them.  The demons can sense that the battle, which began in the Garden long ago, is about to get serious.  Jesus silences their shouting and sends them out of the man whom they had been tormenting.  Jesus does eventually want all to come to know Him, but it will not be from demons, but rather from the power of His own words and the witness of His works.

Jesus has begun His work.  He has called His first disciples.  He has shown Himself to be a Teacher who is to be listened to and He has power over demons and wills to set people free.  What needs to be done has begun.

Mark the evangelist sees life as a battle between good and evil.  He knows that we need to be saved from our sin and from all evil that seeks to destroy us.  More importantly, Mark knows that this battle will be won through the Passion and Death of Jesus.  That is the main story Mark is about to tell. 

As Mark’s story of the good news continues, what we need to do is to remember that Jesus is always at the center, teaching and setting people free.  We trust Him to do the same for us.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s first reading is six verses from the book of the prophet Jonah.  The 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B is the only time we read from the book of the prophet Jonah at Mass, so we hear it only once every three years, and even then it’s just a few verses.  That’s a shame to me, since Jonah is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament.  He and I have much deal in common, so I like to read it when I struggle with Jonah-like moments in my life.

The whole book of Jonah is only four short chapters, a total of 48 verses, so I would encourage you to take some time this week to read Jonah in its entirety.  It won’t take long and it gives us a good deal to think about.

In today’s brief selection, Jonah seems like a hero.  He preaches the word from God, the pagan people of Nineveh listen and obey him and are saved from destruction thanks to God’s mercy.  But there is so much more to the whole story.

For starters, today’s reading is Jonah’s second chance to do what God asked of him.  When he was first told what God wanted to do, he refused to do it and ran away from the Lord.  He was moved by hatred and fear and perhaps laziness. He got on a ship and headed in the other direction.  But he found out fast, you really can’t run away from God and get away with it.  A huge storm comes up, Jonah gets tossed overboard by the others who don’t want to die because of Jonah.  But he doesn’t die; rather, a huge fish swallows him and he spends three days in its belly.  That’s Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 is the beautiful and desperate prayer that Jonah offers from the belly of the fish. God hears the prayer, has the fish vomit Jonah onto the land, and that is Chapter 2.  God now sends Jonah again to the great city and this time Jonah is obedient.  His preaching meets with immediate success on his first day in the city, the people are saved from death and destruction.  Chapter 3 ends well, for everyone but Jonah.

After all that, it turns out that Jonah is disappointed and upset.  He is angry that God did not destroy the people.  God then teaches him a lesson by having a big plant grow up to protect Jonah from the scorching sun, but then God has a worm eat the plant, leaving Jonah more upset than before.  God then points out to Jonah that he is annoyed that a plant has died, but wanted the inhabitants of Nineveh, over 120, 000, to die.  One can only hope Jonah got the point. That’s the end of Chapter 4 and the book.

So why do I like the book and what do Jonah and I have in common?  First, since the Ninevites were fierce enemies of the Jews, Jonah had no interest in helping them.  He hated them and that hatred was controlling his actions.  He also questioned God in his heart for God’s willingness to love the Ninevites and offer them a chance to turn from away from their wickedness. 

Then Jonah’s worst fear came true when the people listened to him.  God got God’s way and the people were not killed.  Jonah was unhappy and bitter and disappointed that God did not see things the way he did.  When I am honest with myself, I know that I too have had hatred in my heart, and have questioned God’s way of doing things.  I also have had the fear that things were not going to go the way I think they should.  Granted, I may not have been as harsh as Jonah (or have I?), but all of that has been in my heart at various times.

Also, when I don’t like what God is asking of me, I hesitate, or ignore it, or don’t do it at all.  Instead, I try to get away or at least distract myself.  And, inevitably, God causes some storm, even if it’s a lack of peace in my heart, to envelop me, forcing me to reconsider.  Reluctantly, then I take the second chance that I know God is waiting for me to act upon.

Finally, there are not a few times when I am not merciful and instead look forward to seeing others get what is coming to them.  When that doesn’t happen, I can get resentful and perhaps even angry at God because bad people don’t deserve such a break.  Jonah, like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son, and I, share that same harsh pettiness and desire for justice, as we see it.

Reading the story of Jonah reminds me of those areas of weakness within me and serves as a reminder to pray again to be delivered from such sinful tendencies.  Take a few minutes, read the book of Jonah yourself and see what you think.  God may speak a word to you too.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

God desires to have a relationship with each of us.  The Lord knows us and loves us more than we can imagine and wants us to know and love Him in return.  Each day God reaches out to us in ways that we may miss if we are not expecting them or watching for them.

In today’s first reading, young Samuel has had not yet experienced God speaking to him.  Eli is older, but has not maintained a relationship with the Lord God, and instead is lazy and drowsy in God’s presence, no longer listening for or expecting God to speak.  He is so lacking in a relationship with the Lord that when God call out to Samuel, it takes Eli a while to realize what is happening.  But he tells Samuel what to do when he next hears the call, and Samuel is obedient and replies to the voice of God, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” We need to do as Samuel did.

In the second reading, Paul assures the new Christians in Corinth that they belong to God in every way; in fact, even their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, although they live in a place saturated with sexual immorality and promiscuity, they are to shun all that.  Rather than lower themselves, they are to glorify God with their bodies, for their union with the Lord is total: spirit, mind, and body.

In the gospel reading, Jesus sees two of John the Baptist’s disciples, and offers them an invitation to come with him, and their lives are changed forever.  Andrew, one of the two who spent the day with Jesus, then goes and finds his brother Simon to bring him to meet Jesus as well.  When Jesus sees Simon, He looks at him, and gives him a new name and a new identity. 

We too can trust that the Lord will call us, and we need to be as docile and open as young Eli was.  Like the Christians at Corinth, we too belong to the Lord totally, for we also have been purchased at a price: the Body and Blood of Jesus offered on the Cross.  Our lives then need to glorify God in every way as well, for we belong to the Lord: spirit, mind, and body.

Finally, we need to seek Jesus, aware of what we are looking for and eager to discover where He is present in our lives.  This requires time in prayer, allowing Jesus to look at us and offer us an invitation and an opportunity to change our lives.  Reading the Scriptures, sharing our faith with other believers, and participating fully in the sacramental life of the Church are other ways that will reveal Jesus alive and active in our world and our lives.

God knows, loves, and serves each of us, with much delight and desire.  Loved as we are, we are to respond with the same delight and desire, holding nothing back.  When we do, God is glorified and our lives are filled with a peace that nothing and no one can ever take away from us.  The Holy Spirit will fill us with grace and power and we will know the presence of Jesus in our lives.  May we come to know and believe in the love God has for us each and every day.

The Epiphany of the Lord

God is good and loves all of us: Jews and gentiles alike. In the first reading, Isaiah gives us some prophetic hints of the Epiphany.  In the second reading, Paul tells the Ephesians that all of us who did not belong to the people of the first covenant are now co-heirs with our Jewish sisters and brothers.  We are blessed and are embraced by our gracious God.  Jesus, the Messiah, came for all us.

Tomorrow we will remember the Baptism of the Lord, and then we return to Ordinary Time.  And in preparation for that, the three gifts of the magi serve as important reminders to us about who Jesus is and how we ought to respond to Him as we settle back into our daily lives. 

The gold tells us that the Child in the manger is a King.  He is not a king as we normally would think of one, and He certainly wasn’t a King that the Jewish people were hoping for or expecting.  Jesus told us that His Kingdom is not of this world.  But He is a King and St. Ignatius Loyola, in one of the most important spiritual exercises, calls us to choose to live our lives under the standard of Christ the King.  We need to follow Him, obey Him, and work for the furthering of His Kingdom.  If we do not serve under the standard of Christ the King, we risk serving the other one who desires our allegiance, the prince of this world.  Christ is a King and we are called to be faithful members of His Kingdom.

The frankincense tells us that this beautiful Child is God.  The Word of God has come to us to be One with us, fully human and fully divine.  Humanity is changed forever with the birth of this Baby in Bethlehem.  God is not no longer distant or unapproachable, for Jesus calls us friends and prays that we will be one with Him as He is with the Father.  Each day we live with Jesus and for Jesus, under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit whom He has poured into our hearts.

The myrrh, strangest of all the gifts, tells us that this Child, lying quietly in His mother’s lap will one day die.  The wood of the manger is connected to the wood of the cross.  The myrrh is for His Body, which will lie in death, having been offered as a sacrifice for our sins.   We know that we will all die, but now there is no reason to fear, for our hope is that as we have shared in the death of Christ through baptism, so too we will share in His eternal life.

Now that the crèche set is put away, we are left only with Jesus, baptized in the Jordan, anointed by the Spirit, eager to begin His mission.  But we know that He is always with us in our daily lives. He is a King we serve, our God whom we worship and praise, and Crucified One who suffered and died and rose for us, all because of Love.  That too is an epiphany for us: we are loved – each and every one of us.  God is good.