1-21-18 3rd Sunday B
1-21-18 3rd Sunday B
Click to hear Audio Homily
Have you ever been in a hurry? When you’re in the middle of an urgent situation, you have no choice but to change your previous plans and priorities. Take for example what happened a week ago to 1.4 million people living in Hawaii. Imagine, it’s Saturday morning at 8AM. You’ve slept in and just got up, sipping coffee leisurely while reading the newspaper. And abruptly you get a text message stating, “Emergency Alert - Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” Many people said they cried in disbelief. Some observed that it was mass chaos with people getting out of cars and running and looking at the sky. For 38 minutes, the people of Hawaii were in a panic, not knowing what to do and where to go. With this recent event as a backdrop, we can get a palpable sense of what happened when Prophet Jonah walked through the city of Nineveh, the capital of the mighty empire of Assyria. Prophet Jonah spent one day in the city announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” and remarkably the entire city began to believe in God, proclaimed a fast, and repented of their sins.
Have you experienced an event or circumstance which prompted you to change the course of your life, turning to God in repentance? Four men in our gospel had such an experience. Jesus went to the worksite where the two sets of brothers--Peter, Andrew, James, and John--were engrossed in their trade of fishing. The four men--some of whom were married, perhaps with children--were trying to support their families and provide for them with what will help them build a better future. Yet a simple call from Jesus to follow him, prompted all four to drop their way of life to begin an adventure of accompanying Jesus their shepherd.
God continues to call us today to turn toward him and continue the work of Our Lord. St. Paul reminds us, “Brothers and sisters, the time is running out...For the world in its present form is passing away.” He goes on to say that our remaining time is very short, and so are opportunities for doing the Lord’s work. We may be attracted by exciting things of the world, yet we are not to allow it to interfere with serving Our Lord. Our focus needs to be on providing for our families, feeding the poor, and enriching our community. The time is now to answer Our Lord’s call to us; we must respond promptly like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. We may say to God that we are ordinary persons lacking great courage and zeal like Peter. Yet, we have to remember that God chose the Apostles, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under God’s direction and power. Sometimes we may complain that we don’t have the gifts and talents to do God’s work. But when we turn to Him in prayer, we receive the wisdom that God desires for us to accomplish His Will even through our brokenness. Jesus believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. We will be “fishers” for the kingdom of God if we allow the grace of Jesus to work through us, in the way we live, speak, and witness the joy of the gospel. This coming week, let us witness our faith in Jesus Christ to those around us, and pray for our neighbors, co-workers, and relatives that they may come to know Our Lord and grow in their desire to love Him.
Click to hear Audio Homily
Have you ever been in a hurry? When you’re in the middle of an urgent situation, you have no choice but to change your previous plans and priorities. Take for example what happened a week ago to 1.4 million people living in Hawaii. Imagine, it’s Saturday morning at 8AM. You’ve slept in and just got up, sipping coffee leisurely while reading the newspaper. And abruptly you get a text message stating, “Emergency Alert - Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” Many people said they cried in disbelief. Some observed that it was mass chaos with people getting out of cars and running and looking at the sky. For 38 minutes, the people of Hawaii were in a panic, not knowing what to do and where to go. With this recent event as a backdrop, we can get a palpable sense of what happened when Prophet Jonah walked through the city of Nineveh, the capital of the mighty empire of Assyria. Prophet Jonah spent one day in the city announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” and remarkably the entire city began to believe in God, proclaimed a fast, and repented of their sins.Have you experienced an event or circumstance which prompted you to change the course of your life, turning to God in repentance? Four men in our gospel had such an experience. Jesus went to the worksite where the two sets of brothers--Peter, Andrew, James, and John--were engrossed in their trade of fishing. The four men--some of whom were married, perhaps with children--were trying to support their families and provide for them with what will help them build a better future. Yet a simple call from Jesus to follow him, prompted all four to drop their way of life to begin an adventure of accompanying Jesus their shepherd.
