January 22^nd 2017. Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mt 4:12-23

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Mt 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The first reading describes the region of Galilee as a place of darkness and foretells that the people of this region will see a great light. Capernaum was located on the “way of the sea”, a commercial route far away from the purity of the observance of the Jewish Law. There would have been a lot of ambivalence and paganism in this cosmopolitan atmosphere. Jesus could have begun his mission in a much “holier” place. He could have called his first disciples while they were praying in the Synagogue. But he chose to begin in this confused and uncertain situation. The message of this Gospel is that Jesus comes looking for us no matter how distant we are from him. He calls us where we are now, in the tangled mess of our lives, and invites us to a new way of living.

His appearance in Galilee is only the beginning of a mission in which Jesus will enter into the most profound darkness of humanity. Jesus will descend into the death of man and take him by the hand and call him forth. Do not look at your own bad situation and wonder if you are worthy of being called or not! Look at the one who is calling you, right now, today! Do not look at your own capacities, but look at his power! He is the one who knows how to transform the darkness of our lives into the light of life.

Jesus does not begin his mission in a place where a pure form of religion is being practiced. He does not go to an area in which everyone is ready to receive him. Rather, he begins in a locality full of pagan beliefs and ambivalence towards the Jewish Law

The first reading from the prophet Isaiah is quoted in the Gospel reading. It tells us that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”, and that “the yolk that burdened the people shall be broken as on the day of Midian”. This reference to Midian recalls an event recounted in the Old Testament when the Judge Gideon overcame a great enemy of thousands of Midianites with a small force of just three hundred men. Gideon managed this with an unconventional strategy using torches and the sound of trumpets after nightfall, simulating the arrival of a great army. In the Gospel, the text from Isaiah is cited and we arrive at the dramatic moment of the arrest of John the Baptist. Jesus knows that the time to begin his mission has come. Jesus goes to Capernaum in Galilee, on the shores of the river. Capernaum is the most important city on “the way of the sea”. This way of the sea was an important commercial route at the crossroads between north and south, and east and west. The route led to the Mediterranean and boats coming in that direction from the Sea of Galilee would have docked at Capernaum. As a result of this commerce and the mixture of different nationalities, Galilee was like a periphery with little in common with the traditions of Judea. Strangely, the history of salvation does not take its starting point in a place of purity or perfection, tranquillity or stability, but from a chaos in which there were many pagans and people passing through. There would have been a lot of ambivalence here and a laxity with regard to obedience to the Law. It was on the confines of other cities like the Decapolis - a group of ten Roman cities in this area – and Sepphoris – a splendid city of Greek origin. In this place of “darkness” Our Lord begins his mission! Jesus does not start from things that are already working well but from the things that are broken, things that are confused and in darkness.

Jesus calls his disciples while they are caught up in the tangle of life, not when they are in the Synagogue praying! Where ever we are, no matter how bad our situation may be, Jesus comes to find us and calls us forth. His most profound mission will be to enter into the darkness of the death of humanity and call us all to new life.

John the Baptist’s time has come to an end and now Jesus’ mission must begin. And it begins in a place that is not very presentable! Galilee, in fact, is rarely mentioned in the Scriptures, and it is described by Isaiah as the place where the people walked in darkness. Jesus comes to call people who live in this state of existence, people who find themselves at the periphery. How Pope Francis loves this particular theme! And rightfully so, because that is where the voice of the Lord is to be found. The call of Peter, Andrew, James and John occurs in this very situation. Where, exactly, did the call take place? They were not called whilst they were in the Synagogue praying! Rather they were summoned when they were working, in the fullness of their own competence, in a place where God didn’t seem to have any relevance whatsoever. It is in this situation that the Lord seeks them out. He was preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” But it was at hand for who? For those who were working far away from the Temple? Surely these were the least likely characters to be called! And this is the real surprise! When Jesus became incarnate he did not assume a condition that made unusual demands on us. He makes himself present among profane things. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand not because we are near to the Kingdom, but because Jesus has come close to us. The Lord has come to Galilee, has appeared in Capernaum, has walked the way of the sea and called those caught up in the tangle of ordinary life. He calls us exactly as we are. This Gospel passage announces to us that there is no place where God cannot find us. He will come to us no matter how distant and lost we may be. His appearance in Galilee is only the beginning of a mission in which Jesus will enter into the most profound darkness of humanity. Jesus will descend into the death of man and take him by the hand and call him forth. Do not look at our own bad situation and wonder if we are worthy of being called or not! Look at the one who calls us! Do not look at our own capacities, but look at his power! He is the one who knows how to transform darkness into light.