Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

January 21, 2024

Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Mark.

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

The gospel of the Lord.

Homily

In the gospel we get Mark’s vision of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Whereas John the Baptist had proclaimed a time of preparation for the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus declares: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." There is a certain urgency to Jesus’ words, because John the Baptist has been imprisoned.

Mark does not begin by telling us how the crowds reacted to Jesus’ preaching, but he gives us a sign in the call of Simon and Andrew, James and John. They abandon their nets; leave their boats; and follow Jesus.

It is the same quickness we met in the first reading. After a single day of hearing Jonah’s preaching, the whole city of Nineveh believed in God, they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, did penance to ask pardon for their sins. God saw how they turned from their evil ways and granted them forgiveness and salvation.

If Jonah’s message of death and destruction – "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed" – could elicit a change of life that brought salvation, how much more will the preaching of Jesus – “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" – bring salvation and eternal life to those who believe.

We have to keep in mind that the preaching of repentance is not directed toward feeling sorry for our sins; it is a call to radically transform our lives according to God’s will and God’s call. As St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. ... For the world in its present form is passing away.”

It is not so much that the world is coming to an end, but that with the coming of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has entered the world and brought a change in our relationships. We are in the world, but not of the world. Marriage is not just an agreement of mutual support between two people; they become partners in giving God’s life to each other, to their family and to the world. A job is not just where one gains the means to acquire the necessities of life, but where one gives of oneself to develop one’s talents and to contribute to the building of a better society. Follower of Jesus Christ do not forget the world, they become more concerned with the world, because the relationships have been raised to a higher level.

Simon and Andrew, James and John did not leave their lives as fishermen because there was something wrong with being a fisherman, but because they were called to be fishers of men, to participate with Jesus in his mission of introducing their fellow human beings into the life of the kingdom of God. They would face challenges with successes and failures, but they would continue in their mission because they had opened their hearts to the love of God in Christ Jesus.

We are called to do the same. And in less than a month we will hear those words again: “Repent, and believe in the gospel," on Ash Wednesday. May we dedicate ourselves to living more fully the life that leads to eternal life.

May God bless you.

Fr. Karl E. Esker C.Ss.R.

Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Brooklyn, NY