THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2021
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 25:4-9
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
Today marks the seventh day of the octave of prayer for Christian unity – usually 18-25 January every year. During his last Wednesday’s audience, the Holy Father Pope Francis reflected on the theme, “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit.” He tells us that “the root of communion and love is Christ Himself who makes us overcome our prejudices to see in others a brother or sister to be loved always.” It is important that we remind ourselves that the Catholic Church is committed to the Ecumenical movement and we all have a grave obligation to work and always pray for Christian unity as Our Lord Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.
The first reading today is from the Book of Jonah. The book of Jonah occurs today for the only time in the entire Sunday Readings. It’s other appearances in the liturgical season are on weekdays, namely; Wednesday of the first week of lent, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of 27th week in year 1. So, it will be out of place to give a homily today without a reflection on the book of Jonah. This is all the more important because of its ecumenical significance.
Jonah was somewhere around modern day Tel Aviv. God commanded him to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Nineveh is located 965kms to the North East and is the capital of Assyria which is modern day Iraq. Remember it was Assyria that wiped out the Northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC. Jonah had no love for Nineveh. He knew that if he goes to them and preach repentance, if they repent, God will not destroy them and he wanted God to destroy them. So, he boarded a boat heading exactly the opposite direction to Tarshish in modern day Spain, a journey of 3540km. After spending three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, he went to Nineveh to preach. His preaching there is arguable the worst homily ever preached – “forty days more, Nineveh will be destroyed.” Ironically, it is one of the most effective in terms of result. The people of Nineveh repented. Jonah came to learn as we too must learn, that God is not interested in destroying others, those who do not belong to our Church or even our enemies. He loves them and wants them to convert so that He can show them His mercy.
The Gospel reading today presents us the very first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospels – “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Good News.” Let us reflect a bit on these three key words – repent, believe and Good News.
The original Greek word in the New Testament for repent is “metanoia” which means, “a change of mind.” Remember the parable of the two sons; one said he will not go but later repented, he changed his mind and went. It also means “a new way of thinking or seeing.” It calls us to begin to think and see things differently. Until we repent and begin to think and see things differently, different from the way the world sees them, we cannot understand the message of the second reading. St Paul says the fashions of this world are passing away. The riches and things of the world are passing away so that a follower of Christ cannot invest his or her life on this earth as if this world is the goal. Repent and begin to see things the way God sees them. Repent and understand that we are pilgrims on earth and begin to witness to the world to come by a life of holiness and detachment from the things of the world. Repent and begin to see Muslims, our separated brothers and sisters, even those who hate us as God sees them, as His own children whom He loves and wants to convert and experience His mercy.
Jesus calls us to believe, to have faith. Believe here is not just about giving an intellectual assent to a theory or a number of propositions, it signifies an all-encompassing movement of human existence, it involves placing one’s whole life on someone or something and in this case, the Good News.
On Friday July 1, 1859 the New York Times reported that a French tightrope walker Monsieur Charles Blondin (1824-1897) has successfully accomplished the feat of walking across the Niagara River on a tight rope in the presence of a crowd variously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000 persons. The crossing is a distance of 335 meters or 1,100 feet. He crossed it over and over and became famous for it. Perhaps bored of just crossing the river, he began to do it sometimes blindfolded, on poles and in a sack. On one occasion, he carried a stove and sat midway and cooked an omelet. On other occasions he will carry a wheelbarrow across.
Sometime in 1860 the Duke of New Castle in England came with his family and entourage to watch him perform. After crossing with a wheelbarrow filled with potatoes, he approached the royal party and asked the Duke of New Castle, “do you believe I could take a man across the tightrope in this wheelbarrow? The Duke replied enthusiastically, “yes I do.” Blondin then invited him to hop in, but the Duke said “no.” Facing the crowd, Blondin asked the same question, “do you believe that I can take a man across the tightrope in this wheelbarrow?” All responded, “we do.” Next he asked, “is there anyone willing to volunteer?” The crowd fell silent. No one was willing to volunteer.
Suddenly an elderly woman stepped out of the crowd and climbed into the wheelbarrow. Blondin wheeled her all the way across and all the way back. The old woman was in fact Blondel’s own mother. She was the only one willing to put her life in his hands. Later his manager Harry Colcord allowed him to carry him on his back across the Niagara River on a tightrope. This story strikes me as a marvelous image of faith as literally entrusting your life to another person. It is one thing to say, I believe that Blondin can carry a man across the river on a tightrope and another thing to hop into the wheelbarrow and be carried across the river on a tightrope.
The word Good News, though it sounds attractive, does not capture the full weight of the Greek original, evangelion and translated evangelium in Latin. The Roman emperors saw themselves as lords, saviours and redeemers of the world. Messages issued by the emperors were called “evangelium” regardless of whether or not their content was cheerful and pleasant. The idea was that what comes from the emperor is not just a piece of news, it is a transforming and saving message. So, when the Evangelists adopt this word and made it the generic name of their writings about Jesus, they mean to tell us, that what the emperors of Rome are fake, that it is Jesus who is the true Lord, Saviors and Redeemer of the world. It is not the emperors who can save the world, it is Jesus who can save the world.
I believe actually means, “I assent to,” “I hand myself over to.” Let us change our ways and believe the Good News.
Happy Sunday
Fr. Chidi Onwuka msscc