Homily for the
3d Sunday of Ordinary
Time
Jan. 21, 2024
Collect
Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
1 Cor 7: 29-31
Mark 1: 14-20
Our Lady of the Assumption,
Bronx
St. Francis
Xavier, Bronx
We prayed in the collect a short while ago,
“God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of
your beloved Son we may abound in good works” (Collect).
Most of us like to think we’re good people,
good Catholics even. If that’s true, the
collect of today’s Mass draws our attention to why we’re good: by the good pleasure of God, by God’s
grace. St. Paul bluntly tells the
Ephesians: “By grace you’ve been saved
thru faith; and this is not your own doing, it’s the gift of God” (Eph
2:8). He adds, “We are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works” (2:10).
But is it true that we’re good? Our 3 Scripture readings today stress
repentance. St. Paul reminds us that
time is short: “the time is running out”
(1 Cor 7:29) and “the world in its present form is passing away” (7:31). Whether we’re 20 years old or 85, our time is
short. Only God is eternal, and we’ll
have to return to him, to him who created us to “abound in good works” by
responding to his grace, by letting him work in us and shape us into images of
his Son Jesus.
Jonah went to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria,
Israel’s deadly enemies, and preached to them that their time was short, that
God intended to destroy them in 40 days (Jon 3:4). They paid attention to God’s message and
“turned from their evil ways,” and God changed his intention (3:10) and saved
them, so to speak.
After John the Baptist was arrested by
Herod, the ruler of Galilee, Jesus began his public ministry. John had condemned Herod’s sexual sins, so
Herod imprisoned him and eventually executed him. Time is short even for prophets and saints.
So Jesus comes, “proclaiming the gospel of
God” (Mark 1:14). That Gospel, the Good
News—that’s what gospel means—is that with Jesus “the time is fulfilled”
and “God’s kingdom is at hand” (1:15).
God is present in Jesus and the Good News that he brings. Believe it!
And believing it, turn away from your sins, as the people of Nineveh
did. Believe that God cares for you,
desires you, wants to save you. He
created you to be with him, “to enjoy his good pleasure and to abound in good
works,” by the grace of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we may wonder whether God can
truly love us. We’re sinners, after
all. Sometimes we do or say terrible
things, things that certainly aren’t the good works that God has in mind.
Yet Christ comes and tells us God’s at hand, and this is good news. Then Jesus gives us down-to-earth examples. He walks by the sea, and he sees 4 fishermen going about their tasks. Here in the Bronx he might see office workers, deliverymen, housekeepers, shopkeepers, construction workers, teachers, students—just everyday people. Simon and Andrew, James and John aren’t saints—not yet, anyway. But Jesus sees them (1:16,19), sees them with the eyes of God, and he calls them: “Follow me, come after me” (1:17,20). It’s not a question of their worthiness or their holiness, but of Jesus’ wish to have them with him, and thru them to enter the lives of others: to be “fishers of men” (1:17). Eventually, after a long internship of trial and error and by his grace, they will become saints.
He’s called us, too. To everyone here, Jesus has said, “Follow
me.” Follow me by turning away from your
sins, whatever those may be, and accept my offer of a ticket into the kingdom
of God. Let me help you “abound in good works”
and to live in my Father’s “good pleasure”—here in the Bronx for now, and
eventually for eternity. Come now,
for “the time is running out”; the wealth and power and pleasure of “the world
in its present form” are passing away.
This morning/afternoon every one of us is one day closer to eternity.
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