IV Sunday of the Year

AUTHORITY FROM RELATIONSHIP

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

Readings for the IV Sunday of the Year

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a quarrel early in their marriage. Albert walked out and went to his room. Victoria followed him. She found the door locked and began pounding on it.

“Who’s there?” Albert asked. “The Queen of England,” was the reply. The door remained locked.

More pounding followed. There was only silence. Then a gentle tap. “Who’s there?” Albert inquired. Victoria replied: “Your wife, Albert.” Albert opened the door immediately.

What made Albert open the door was not the authority that came from the power and status of the Queen of England, but an authority that came from a personal relationship.

That is the kind of authority that Jesus had. 

After he called his disciples, Jesus continues his public ministry: he teaches at Capernaum and casts out an unclean spirit. The people are astonished because he taught and healed as one having personal authority unlike the scribes who derived their authority from their role/status. 

The crowd cannot identify the source of this authority. The unlikely voice of “a man with an unclean spirit” does: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” At the end of Jesus’ ministry, another unlikely voice—the Roman centurion—will identify Jesus: “This man was the Son of God!”

Jesus derived his authority from his intimate and personal relationship with his father.

Jesus’ exercise of this authority, too, was different. He told his disciples that they ought not to flaunt their authority but to serve... as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.

He powerfully demonstrated this often: by his compassion in feeding the multitude, by reaching out to the marginalised, by washing his disciples’ feet at the last supper, by cooking breakfast for them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

From where do I derive my authority: from my role/ status/ power or from my relationship with my God? How do I relate with others: from power or through relationship?

III Sunday of the Year

U-TURN TO GOD

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

Readings for the III Sunday of the Year

Wabush, a town in remote Canada, was completely isolated for some time. Then workers cut a road through the wilderness to reach it; Wabush had only one road leading into it, and thus, only one road leading out. If someone were to travel to Wabush, there is only one way he/she could leave: by turning around.

There comes a moment in our lives when we realise we are in a town called “sin”. As in Wabush, there is only one way out. We must turn around or “repent”. This is the thrust of today’s liturgy.

In the first reading, God sends Jonah to call the people of Nineveh to repentance. After Jonah reluctantly carries out this mission, the Ninevites repent.

In the gospel, Jesus begins his mission by announcing: “The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the gospel!”

What is the “gospel”? It is the news found upon Jonah’s lips: God is gracious and compassionate to all, even to those who do not—in our assessment—deserve his grace and compassion.

What is repentance? The Greek for repent, metanoiein, means “to change one’s mind.” The Hebrew shûbh means to turn around 180 degrees, to reorient oneself toward God. 

The call of the disciples that follows illustrates that “repent and believe in the gospel” does not mean merely to accept certain truths but to be attached to the person of Jesus, to follow him on his way—a way that challenges injustice and discrimination, that includes all, that leads to suffering and the cross.

For some, like the Ninevites, repentance is a radical turnaround from evil to accept God’s compassion. For others, like the disciples, it is a turnaround from their way of doing things to doing what God wants them to do.

For me, what would a U-turn to God involve? What are the “boats and nets” I need to abandon to follow the Lord?

II Sunday of the Year

HEEDING GOD’S CALL

1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20; John 1:35-42

Readings for the II Sunday of the Year

One evening a professor was sorting mail. A magazine—delivered to him by mistake—fell open to an article titled: “The Needs of the Congo Mission.” He began reading it. These words gripped him: “The need is great here. We have no one to work in the northern province of Gabon in the Congo. It is my prayer that God will lay his hand on one—on whom the master’s eyes already rest—and that he or she will answer the call to help us.” The professor closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: “My search is over.” Albert Schweitzer gave himself to the Congo. 

Schweitzer got his life’s calling after he “happened” to read an article which was not even his! People get their call in unique ways… as today’s readings attest.

God called Samuel. John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples and Jesus invited them to “come and see”. Andrew told Simon that they had found the Messiah. Samuel, Andrew, Simon. Three people. Three unique call stories.

There are, however, elements common to each call story: 

Listening: God calls each for a plan he has. We need to listen for his call which is sometimes direct and clear, often indirect and subtle. We do not know how he calls us. One thing is certain: he will surprise us!

Recognising: We need help to recognize the Lord’s voice. Eli helped Samuel recognize that the voice he heard was God’s; John indicated the way to his disciples.

Responding: We need to say: “Here I am…” 

Remaining: Samuel remained in the Lord’s temple; Andrew and the other disciple remained with Jesus two days. Discipleship is primarily remaining with the master.

God continues to call us to varied states in life, to varied ministries, for a unique mission in life. 

Can I hear God calling me? Will I listen to his call, seek help to recognize it, respond to it, and remain with him?

The Epiphany of the Lord

STEADFAST SEEKERS

Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

Readings for the Epiphany of the Lord

On 04 July 1952, Florence Chadwick attempted to become the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. The water was numbing cold; there were sharks in the vicinity; the fog was so thick she couldn’t see the boats in her party. After 15 hours in the water, Chadwick asked to be taken out. Her trainer encouraged her to swim on; Chadwick managed another hour and then quit… just a mile from the shore.

Two months later Chadwick re-attempted the swim. A similar thick fog obscured the coastline. She steadfastly sought her goal and succeeded. Later she said she kept a mental image of the shoreline while she swam; she kept reminding herself that land was there.

The Magi, who journeyed from “the east” to Jerusalem to pay homage to the new-born king of the Jews, did something similar: they steadfastly sought their goal. 

They faced tremendous odds: a long and arduous journey, cold weather, and lack of shelter; they lost sight of their guiding star, and had to seek directions from a sinister Herod.

They kept reminding themselves that the new-born king was somewhere ahead; allowed themselves to be guided by the star; were humble enough to seek direction and help; had faith to recognize the king “when they saw the child with Mary his mother.” 

Then they “were overwhelmed with joy”. After their encounter with the new-born king, they were transformed: they “departed for their country by another way”.

Our life’s journey, too, is arduous. We face fearsome challenges and difficulties. We need to imitate the Magi in steadfastly seeking our goal: God! We need to keep a mental image of the times God has been with us and remind ourselves that he is with us. We need to allow ourselves to be guided by Christ’s light and seek direction from others. We need to have faith to recognize our king in the mundane and the ordinary; all too often we want to see him in the spectacular and the extraordinary. Our encounters with him ought to transform us and make us courageous to resist the “herods” of today.

Will I steadfastly seek the Lord despite the challenges I face? Will I allow myself to be transformed after my encounters with him?