Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Evangelist Mark gives a rapid, almost hurried, sketch of the beginning of Christ’s preaching and the call of the first disciples, and in doing so uses a minimum of words. However, the words of Jesus are profound and help reveal his divine identity. He declares “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel.” The time referred to here is God’s time, the moment of his good pleasure. The long centuries of waiting and hoping on the part of his people Israel was now at an end. The period of preparation and promise so eloquently spoken of by Moses, the prophets had now run its course. With the presence of Jesus Christ, Almighty God is intervening once more in history, only now in final and determined fashion. The apostle Paul would remark to the Galatians that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his only Son, born of a woman.” There is both urgency and challenge in Christ’s preaching which demand a response. Two thousand years later we too find ourselves put on the spot by the proclamation of the Son of God
Did Mark intend the call and response of Peter, Andrew, James and John, to be an example of the impact that Jesus had on those who heard him speak? The gospels show how the apostles had to grow and mature in faith over the three years of Christ’s public ministry. That faith was sorely tried during the days of his passion and death, but would reach maturity through the experience of his resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But on that first day beside the Sea of Galilee they clearly had enough faith to turn aside from their daily pursuits and throw in their lot with the One who spoke so forcefully and convincingly. They were destined to be fishermen of quite another kind. The generosity of their response has enabled the story of Jesus to reach us down to our day.
In his opening proclamation Christ called for repentance, a change of heart, if his gospel of good news was to have its impact. A new way of thinking and hearing was required to become part of this time of God’s grace and goodness, freely accessible to all who would take up the challenge. The story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, powerfully reminds us of God’s loving concern for all peoples. What he asks of us is our cooperation, our willingness to walk in his ways, not paths of our own choosing. Christ continues to speak to us through his Church. Like those first apostles, let us be generous in our response and we too will become bearers of the good news.

+Michael Campbell OSA

Coadjutor Bishop of Lancaster