January 26^th 2020. Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 4, 12-23

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

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Matthew 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 . . . Sunday has been designated by Pope Francis to be the Sunday of the Word

 of God. Did you know that we can be enslaved or liberated by words? We are relational

 creatures and we are always fundamentally in dialogue with something. It is important that 

we be in dialogue with God’s word and not with a lie! The serpent in the Garden deceived us 

with his lie. This has caused us to distrust God and each other, and has led us to live lives of

 isolation and suspicion. But into this darkness, comes Jesus! The Gospel tells us that light

 begins to shine on the people who lived on the “way of the sea”. This was the commercial 

route to the Mediterranean. Jesus did not meet people on top of a high mountain, but went 

right into this busy region and called the first disciples. They were living in darkness in the 

same way that all of life is in darkness and heading towards death and nothingness. Jesus 

calls them (and us) to conversion. Conversion means to change direction and head towards 

the Kingdom. So the people who lived on the way of the sea are now living on the way to the

 Kingdom of Heaven! This Sunday we are called to embrace the life-giving word of God, 

change direction and allow the Kingdom to come in our lives.

It might sound surprising, but a word can imprison us! If we are led to believe a lie (which is 

what happens in Eden when humanity believes the serpent) then our lives can be distorted, 

leading to our imprisonment and isolation behind distrust and suspicion. 

The Word of God creates the world. From the breath of his mouth the heavens were made, 

according to one of the Psalms. God speaks and his will is done. He commands and everything

 comes to be (Ps 33). The first reading on Sunday, which Pope Francis has designated "Sunday

 of the Word", is a text by Isaiah that tells of a light that brings joy and freedom from oppression.

 Can a word liberate? In a sense, we could ask ourselves the opposite question: can a word

 imprison? Yes! Chapter 3 of Genesis tells how this very thing can happen. By the word of the 

serpent, a word of treachery, humanity is deceived, with the result that we are imprisoned in a

 life of shame and competition. Loneliness and isolation are introduced into the world. It is a 

word that condemns the heart of man. If a person becomes convinced that a lie is the truth, all

 of life can go out of focus. But the light that liberates man appears in this Sunday’s Gospel.

The Gospel speaks of God’s light shining on the busy commercial zone known as the “way of the sea”. Jesus calls Simon and Peter right in the middle of this busy area, just as they are casting their nets to earn their living. Jesus calls them to conversion, which means taking a radical new direction, to a new way and a new life.

The Gospel refers to a place where the light begins to shine. At first, it might appear to be giving only geographic information, but nothing is trivial in the Scriptures. The land being referred to is the so-called "way of the sea", an important communication artery of the time. As its name suggested, it was the way to get to the Mediterranean, from the east or the north. It was a place of passage. Christ does not put himself on the top of a mountain, a typical place for divine manifestations, but on the street, a busy street where people pass with their haste, their priorities, their anxieties and their objectives. The Lord Jesus makes the light shine, which is the word at the centre of this Gospel: "Be converted, because the kingdom of heaven is near".

There is another “way to go”, apart from this busy way of the sea. And this new direction, this conversion, is not the result of anxieties or confused desires: it is the kingdom of heaven. You can reach it, it is accessible. On the way of the sea, on this busy commercial street, where people come and go but never arrive, you can be called to conversion, to a new direction. This is what happens to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew just as they are casting their nets. The moment of the casting of the nets is a moment of trying to procure life, a living, for themselves. It is at this very moment that they are called to another life.

Human life is marked by death. All our endeavours are destined for nothingness unless we embrace the direction of the Kingdom, which is approaching. When we follow Christ, then darkness is dispersed and our lives become beautiful and meaningful.

In the end, the people who are called to the light are these very disciples, Peter and Andrew. In what sense was their previous life a life of darkness? All life exists in a "region of death". No matter how hard we work, every human place is simply the place that sooner or later will see us die. Every place is the penultimate place before the ultimate end of death. We can catch all the fish we want, but sooner or later we die. There is a shadow in the human heart which seems to tell us that we are walking towards nothing. Where is the light in all of this? With the coming of Jesus, those who walked the way of the sea towards the Mediterranean had the opportunity to change direction and head towards the Kingdom of Heaven, because – according to the Greek text - it is on its way. The English translation “the Kingdom of heaven  is at hand” is not a great translation of the Greek which really says that the Kingdom is coming towards us. It is he who is looking for us. We were not born for nothingness, but for heaven. Our journey has a noble and valuable end. Beautiful things can be achieved, there is Christ to follow. Simon Peter and Andrew once caught fish but now can fish for people. They can save lives, bring a multitude of scattered people into the Kingdom, people who exist in darkness, but with a word can be freed.