HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

Jan 26, 2020

1695

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of Prophet Isaiah (8:23-9:3)

First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end He has glorified the seaward road, the land West of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (27:1, 4, 13-14)

(R) The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid? (R)

One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate His temple. (R)

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1:10-13, 17)

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by Chole's people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul", or "I belong to Apollos", or "I belong to Cephas", or "I belong to Christ". Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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 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 your 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.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

In order to understand today's reading from the Gospel of Matthew, it will be helpful to know a few things. John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah were connected to each other, first of all, by relationship, as their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth were cousins, Luke (1:36) and secondly by respective ministries, as John was the herald to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Isaiah (40:3); Malachi (3:1) and Matthew (3:3). John preached repentance, baptized people and prepared them for Jesus' arrival in the Judean desert. People from Jerusalem and all Judea and all the districts around the River Jordan went out to John.

Jesus who, until this time, had spent his earthly life in quiet obscurity in a lowly and despised town called Nazareth in the region of Galilee also went and requested baptism. John was at first reluctant to baptize Jesus for He being sinless had no need for repentance. But upon Jesus' insistence, John eventually baptized him, Matthew (3:1-17); Mark (1:1-11); Luke (3:1-22) and John (1:15-34). After His baptism, Jesus went into the desert where he fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights. During this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and attempted to tempt Him towards sin. With Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan then departed.

As today's Gospel text begins, we hear that after being informed of John's arrest, Jesus left Nazareth to live in Capernaum, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, by the Sea of Galilee, and He began to preach there and chose his first disciples. Now a question may arise as to what Jesus did between his temptation and the arrest of John the Baptist. From the Gospel of John, we find out what occurred after the baptism and temptation of Jesus.

John in his Gospel reports directly neither about Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist nor about Jesus' temptation by Satan. However, he alludes to baptism, as having taken place and then tells of John the Baptist's denial of being the Messiah and his testimony of Jesus Christ being the Lamb of God: this led two of his disciples to follow Jesus. One of them was Andrew, the brother of Apostle Peter. John records that all this took place a day before Jesus returned to Galilee in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. He further gives an account of the calling of Philip and Nathanael, the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus' visit to Capernaum with his mother and disciples, Jesus' confrontation with traders at the Temple during his visit to Jerusalem for Jewish Passover and Jesus' meeting with Nicodemus at night, John (1:29-3:21).

Furthermore, John narrates that Jesus went back to Jordan River but this time to a place called Aenon near Salim where He baptized people. It was the same place where John the Baptist also was baptizing because of abundance of water there. This led to a dispute between the disciples of John the Baptist and some Jews over there as to whose baptism was valid - John the Baptist's or Jesus's. John the Baptist once again testified to Jesus as the One to come and, thereafter, Jesus remained in the region until John's arrest and returned to Galilee through Samaria, John (3:22-36). On the way, he met a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar, John (4:1-42). He then went back to Cana where He healed the son of certain royal official and later to Nazareth where His message was rejected, John (4:46-52) and Luke (4:16-31). Finally, Jesus settled in Capernaum to continue his ministry. It is at this point that Matthew picks up the narrative, which we read today and it falls into four parts.

In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus explains the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the commencement of Christ's ministry in Galilee. "Capernaum" comes from the Hebrew words "Kfar Nahum", which means "village of Nahum". It is believed to have been named in honour of one of the so-called "minor" Hebrew prophets of the 7th century BC. It was a small Jewish fishing and agricultural village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias or the Lake of Gennesaret, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, and was situated on the major ancient trade route connecting Damascus in the north and Egypt in the south. In Jesus' time, most of the houses in Capernaum were small and jammed together, with walls made of stone and the flat roofs made of mud mixed with straw. It explains one incident of how some men, who had carried a paralyzed man but could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, made an opening in the roof and lowered the man on a mat so Jesus could heal him, Mark (2:1-12) and Luke (5:17-16).

There are possibly three reasons why Jesus chose to move from Nazareth to Capernaum. The first reason is that Capernaum was the home of Jesus' first disciples - the fishermen Peter, Andrew, James and John and the tax collector Matthew. The second reason is that the geographical position and social, cultural and religious diversity of Capernaum offered considerably more opportunities for Jesus to spread his gospel among Gentiles. At the time of Jesus, Capernaum was located on the borders of the Jewish territory of Herod Antipas to the west and the predominantly Gentile territory of Herod Philip to the east. Besides, Capernaum's location on the trade route made it more prosperous and was apparently home to Jews as well as Gentiles, whereas Nazareth was populated mostly by Jewish and was much more secluded. The third and most likely real reason is that it was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah which said, "the light will rise upon the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles", Isaiah (8:23-9:1).

Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel. The offspring of twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Jacob following the Exodus, when they conquered and settled in the land of Israel, i.e., the inland from the Mediterranean Sea and north of Nazareth and Cana, which therefore became known as the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. These two tribes were part of the group of ten tribes that had rebelled against the rule of Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon and formed their own kingdom in the north, called "Israel", with their own temple and worship in Samaria, 1 Kings (11:43).

Consequently, when God brought punishment upon the whole kingdom of Israel for their unfaithfulness through Assyrians, both tribes were the first people to suffer. Darkness had descended on them and there was no immediate hope of the light returning. But God spoke to them through the Prophet Isaiah that this darkness, gloom, despair and desperation would one day be dispelled; their yoke of slavery would be removed, and they would rejoice at being free again, Isaiah (9:2-3). Isaiah foretold of this in approximately 720 years before Christ. But that day did not come immediately. It was not until several centuries later that this prophesy would be applied to Jesus of Nazareth, who would be the great light. In today's gospel narrative, Matthew reveals that the prophecy of Isaiah came true the moment Jesus came to Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali and started his ministry of dispensing light into the darkness.

In the second part of the Gospel, Matthew points out "repentance" as the central message of Jesus' preaching, Matthew (4:12-17). It was a message the people of Matthew's day really needed to hear and heed. It was, in fact, exactly the same of John the Baptist, Matthew (3:2). In the simplest of terms, "to repent" means to "turn around". Repentance means turning away from a life of sin to a life of righteousness and to God.

In the third part of the Gospel, Matthew relates the calling of the first four disciples to a mission. One day Jesus went out to the seaside where four fishermen were at work. Two of them, Peter and his brother Andrew were fishing and, the other two, James and his brother John, with their father, were mending the nets. Jesus called them to follow him and they at once left their nets, boats and their father and followed him, Matthew (4:18-22). Although these men had already encountered Jesus at the River Jordan and became his disciples, they continued to earn their keep and livelihood by fishing, to feed their families, John (1:35-42).

But now that Jesus called them formally to devote themselves to a new work and mission, from being fishermen to fishers of men and from being menders of nets to menders of people's relationship with God, they had to leave their source of livelihood, such as boats and nets, and family relationships in order to follow Jesus wholeheartedly in his travels and work. Until now, they were catching fish and mending nets with the labour of their hands, but from then on, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would bring people back to God; they would help people to reconcile, to repair, to mend their broken relationship and find peace with God, with their fellow human beings, and with themselves.

In the fourth part of the Gospel, Matthew sums up the whole of Jesus Christ's ministry. He recounts that Jesus went all around Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people, Matthew (4:23).

What is the message for us?

God never abandoned His people, Israel, despite their unfaithfulness. Instead, He loved them enough to make promises to them, especially the Light to dispel the darkness of despair and hopelessness and, centuries later, He fulfilled the promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Light of the world, John (1:4-9, 8:12). In the same way, despite our sinfulness, God continues to provide, protect, and love us so much that He does not forsake us but rather makes promises to us, His children, and He keeps them, even though we can't figure out how, when, where, and why.

He sometimes fulfils His promises in ways we could never have imagined. He never breaks His promises. God has given us hundreds of great and precious promises in the Bible, 2 Peter (1:4). In order to see the fulfilment of these promises, we must first search the Bible, find promises that relate to our situation, believe that these promises are specifically for us, and start praying that God may bring those promises to pass in our lives. Above all, we must persevere so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised, Hebrew (6:12).
Repentance today is as important and necessary as it was at the time of Jesus. Repentance is the core message of not only the preaching of Jesus Christ but also of John the Baptist and the Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah and others. As a matter of fact, it has been a fundamental part of God's requirements for man's redemption and salvation, Jeremiah (35:15); Ezekiel (18:32); Acts (3:19); 2 Peter (3:9) and 1 John (1:9). I have no doubt that we, Christians, are convinced of the importance of repentance, but I am not sure everyone is clear as to how to do it. To make our repentance complete and fruitful we must personalize it. We must regularly and strictly examine our consciences, truly recognize the reality of personal sin in our lives, humbly seek the forgiveness of God and then confidently move away from our sin with haste.
When Jesus called the disciples abruptly from their daily work of fishing, they responded immediately and enthusiastically to Jesus' summons. They dropped everything they were doing. They left their possessions and their families and followed Jesus. Just as He called the disciples, Jesus also calls us wherever we are. He calls us from the midst of a normal day's pursuits and activities. Our response to Jesus' call may not be as quick, decisive and dramatic as the disciples. But it doesn't need to be. There are only two important things to remember and realize: One is that Jesus never stops calling us by our name to "follow" him. The other is that, when Jesus calls us no matter the circumstances, we must be willing to sacrifice everything for His sake.
The main purpose of the call of Jesus to the disciples and to us is the same. We are to become "fishers of men" or "fishers of people". In other words, we are invited to go into the world, preach the truth of the Gospel of Jesus, give witness to His teachings in our daily lives and bring people from the darkness of unbelief into the light of faith. But we do not have to be afraid of this task. He who calls us will also nurture us with the talents, gifts, and interests that we need, and help us find ways to use them to be a part of what He is already doing in the world. Therefore, let us be bold and courageous, but yet wise and confident, in sharing the gospel and in the pursuit of winning souls for Christ.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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