THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B) 22 January 2012
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE
Mark 1, 14 -20
José Antonio Pagola
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| Fr. Valentine de Souza S.J |
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (NIV)
We do not know with certainty how the disciples of John reacted when Herod Antipas imprisoned him in the fortress of Machaerus; we know how Jesus did. He did not lie low in the desert. Neither did he take refuge among his relatives in Nazareth. He began to tour the towns of Galilee preaching an original and astonishing message.
Mark, the evangelist, sums it up by saying: “He went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God.” Jesus does not restate John’s message, nor does he speak of his baptism in the Jordan. He proclaims God as something new and good. This is his message.
“The time has come.” The time of waiting and expectation prevalent in Israel is over. The time of John the Baptist, too, is over. With Jesus there begins a new age. God does not wish to leave us alone to face our problems, sufferings, and challenges. He desires to build along with us a more humane world.
“The kingdom of God is near.” With unknown boldness, Jesus surprises everyone by proclaiming something no prophet had dared announce: “God is already here with his creative power for justice, trying to establish his kingdom among us.” Jesus experiences God as a good and friendly presence that is seeking to open a way among us to humanize our lives.
That is why the whole life of Jesus is a call to hope. There is an alternative. It is not true that history has to follow the path of injustice traced by the ones who hold power on the earth. A more just and fraternal world is possible. We can change the course of history.
“Repent”. It is no longer possible to continue living as if nothing was happening. God is asking his children to collaborate. “Change the way you think and act.” We, the people, are the first to have to change. God does not impose anything by force, but is always drawing our awareness towards a more humane life.
“Believe this Good News.” Take it seriously: wake up from indifference; stir up your energies; believe that it is possible to humanize the world; believe in the liberating power of the Gospel; believe that change is possible; bring hope to the world.
What have we made of this impassioned message of Jesus? How could we have forgotten it? What have we replaced it with? What are we busy with if the most important thing is “to seek the kingdom of God and his justice?” How can we remain passive spectators while the project of God to create a world full of peace and justice is being sabotaged by men?
Spread the Good News of God
Source: URL of José Antonio Pagola's Buenas Noticias Web site:
Website for Spanish text and translations: www.eclesalia.net
José Antonio Pagola, vgentza@euskalnet.net , San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain.
English Translation by Valentine de Souza S.J. Mandal, Gujarat , India.394650
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Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean. 
I do have a comment. I love this gospel. I believe Christ came to institute an actual kingdom. He rejected the idea that he was king of the Jews, not to reject the idea entirely, but that He was king of something broader. And we had that kingdom in Christendom. The protestant rebellion has dismantled it ever since, block by block dismantled the economic provisions that protected the poor, the regulations that prevented businesses from monopolizing, the banking regulations against exorbitant interest. And so many more, too numerous to list. The benefits to women were amazing, the best on earth. And what did the Church do in response? Give up! At Vatican II! This topic is what the struggle between Tradition and the Council is all about! Vatican II gave up the Restoration, endorsed secularism and religious liberty everywhere (not the teaching of Tradition at all--we want, we need, as this sermon points out, to live in God's kingdom, not mammon's)
ReplyDeleteThis site does not recognize this truth. Although they have printed this really excellent sermon, I am not sure if they realize the implications of it, which are, we must energetically reject Vatican II, we must support those groups in tradition who are calling for this, we must stop endorsing ecumenical abominations, we must begin to build the kind of political presence that makes Catholic teaching part of social legislation, and underneath it all, we must insist that Christ the King (and the Restoration) must be the center of all our political and charitable work, as all the traditional popes called for, again and again.
We are seeing the breakdown of secularism all around us, when this traditional teaching might have so much more traction than we understand!!!