Saturday, January 20, 2024

Turning to the Lord: From the Depths to the Heights

 


THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

20 January 2024 – Harrisburg, St. JPII Parish

Jon 3:1-5, 10

1 Cor 7:29-31

Mk 1:14-20

Praised be Jesus Christ!

       The Scriptures for this 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time all contribute to proclaiming the basic message of Jesus Christ as reported today in the Gospel of Mark. Responding to the Lord is what our lives as Catholics is all about. Jesus spoke then and continues to speak to us.

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       As I say, this message goes through all the readings for today. In the first reading, after the account of his attempted flight from God, the prophet Jonah surrenders to God’s will and fulfills his mission from God Almighty to preach to the wicked people of Nineveh, that they should repent from their sins, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” Quite miraculously and against all odds, the people from greatest to least repented at the preaching of Jonah.

I think it is of primary importance to focus on the change of heart which Jonah’s preaching worked in those people, their turning to God for mercy. To know of their repentance and conversion is more important than it is to know the details of the bad deeds, sins, or failings of the Ninevites. We are meant first and foremost to see their turning generally from ignoring God, from their failure to be responsive to God and His Will, to turning to Him in weeping, sack cloth and ashes, turning to Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. When it comes to ignoring the Lord Who made and saved us, I cannot help but think that perhaps in our day and time our situation is worse than that of those people to whom Jonah was sent to preach.

       We see this repeated in the basic message delivered by today’s second reading. There St. Paul calls the Corinthians and us to radical conversion. “For the world in its present form is passing away.”

        Our world and our Church today has a desperate need for repentance, of turning from our own ways to seek the face of God and do His holy will. You’ll get people who are almost hysterical about our living in the end times, they are troubled and confused. Let us just say that maybe it would be better to see the horrible straits in which our world finds itself not knowing really how to respond. Thankfully, they are not few, the people seized by the urgency of turning their lives over to Christ. Jesus’ message seems to be coming through again in our time, changing hearts and lives. “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       “Forty more days and Nineveh shall be destroyed.”  What is the great destruction looming on the horizon for us? What is it that must change in our lives if we are to be saved? “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.” Those are St. Paul’s words from almost two millennia ago. People will point to what they call Paul’s alarmism and try to discredit his message, using the argument that obviously the time hasn’t run out so maybe St. Paul was overstating the case. They, however, may just be ignoring the teaching from the Book of Jonah. Maybe they are discounting the possibility that Paul’s preaching saved the world back then, and that humanity has been saved from destruction by the preaching of the Church over the centuries and people’s repentance time and time again in various ages.

       Jonah seemed very much annoyed that God had spared the great city of Nineveh. In a sense, we are not that different as we may wish contrary to the will of God that our enemies would be destroyed, unmindful of what the Prophet Ezekiel (18:24) teaches. It is not God’s will that the sinner die, but rather that he repent and be saved. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord GOD, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?”

       The question is how should we respond to the preaching of Christ as carried on in the Church. “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       When Jonah made his attempt to escape by boat across the sea from God’s will for him, he went below deck curled up and went to sleep. He tried to crowd the Lord out of his life and thoughts by not watching and praying with the sailors and the rest of the passengers on that boat. What then is repentance if not our turning to God by embracing a life of prayer? Offering each day to Him when we awake, giving thanks for our food, and examining our conscience at the end of each day. We must cultivate a sense of the presence of God in our lives. We must rouse ourselves from sleep so to speak.

Recently, I was impressed by the witness of two people, one, a woman who was undergoing cancer treatment, who told how a Catholic lady friend came to visit each day of her treatment to pray the rosary with her. Her cancer is in remission. She attribute that as much to the Mother of God as to modern medicine. She will be received into the Catholic Church this Easter. The other is a former Anglican priest and bishop now a Catholic convert, who followed the advice of a Catholic priest friend, an exorcist, who told him that if he wanted to be freed of the torments of Satan, then he should pray the rosary. Is your life anchored in prayer or are you sleeping somewhere below deck attempting to flee from God’s love?

       The two great commandments are love of God and love of neighbor. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is not a question of affection or sentiment. It is a matter of obedience to His commands, of sorrow and the resolve to make amends and change when we fail. Why do people hide below deck and refuse to seek to achieve a regular practice of the Sacrament of Penance in their hearts? We need to assume responsibility for all the ways we fail God and neighbor.

       “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

       Praised be Jesus Christ!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI


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