THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY
TIME
(Jonah 3: 1-5.10; I
Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-20)
One day towards the end of
this year we will turn to our neighbors at Mass to shake their hands. We will
take the Blood of Christ from the cup. And we will see the smiles on the faces
of the children in church. The Corona-19 virus will be arrested. We will be
able to rejoice in the Lord. In the gospel we hear of the arrest of John
launching another chain of good news.
John is treated in this Gospel
of Mark as the last prophet of Israel. Like Isaiah and Amos, John has preached
justice to great and humble alike. He even he faced King Herod with
inconvenient truth. His arrest means the end of ancient times. Jesus says in
truth: "'The time has been fulfilled.'" The new age introduces the
Kingdom of God. In other words, the love of God the Father will no longer
remain as a memory. It won't just be the story of the victory over Pharaoh or
the exploits of David. Rather, it will be as palpable as the warmth of a fireplace
when temperatures drop to zero. God will caress all men and women because we
are created in his image. Like the one-time popular song said: "He has you
and me, brother, in his hands ... he has the whole world in his hands."
We can rest safe now because
God has come. But before we rest we have to fulfill Jesus' command:
"'Repent and believe the gospel.' In other words, we have to leave
selfishness and greed behind to take care of others. We have to protect the
dignity of each person, particularly the most vulnerable. A nun tells of her
father who was a gynecologist. One day the daughter asked her father if he had
ever performed an abortion. He replied, "Yes." "How many?"
she asked again. “At least a dozen when I was in my residency - he said - then
something happened that made me stop. After doing an abortion one day, I went
to tell the patient's sister that the surgery was over. Before I could leave,
she asked me if it was alive. I knew that if I answered "no," it
would have been a lie and if I answered "yes," I just killed someone.
It was the last abortion I ever did”.
Eventually the physician
became a Catholic and discerned the call to treat his patients according to the
teachings of the Church. He went to train in a city far from his place of
origin. The change meant a drastic reduction in income, but it seemed like
God's will. He was like the fisherman brothers in the gospel. Simón and Andrés
and Santiago and Juan receive a call from Jesus that means great sacrifices.
Simón and Andrés leave their nets behind -- their livelihood. Santiago and Juan
leave their own father in the boat.
Jesus tells the fishermen that
they will be "’ fishers of men. " He is going to teach them how to
call others to the kingdom of God. He does not stop calling with the apostles
but calls us today. Could it be that we are called to tell others about God's
love? Why not? The world needs to hear that God's love reaches every human
person. The scope includes aborted fetuses and also their mothers. Somehow we
have to convey to women who have had abortions that God still loves them. We
have to inform them that if they recognize abortion as a mistake, God will
forgive them so that they have peace.
Abortion divides political
parties and increasingly religions. It's not leaving anytime soon. As disciples
of Jesus, we have to defend human life from conception to natural death. But we
don't want to alienate anyone. Rather, we want to be fishermen and women of
others by extending the spirit of reconciliation. Yes, it is difficult, but we
have Jesus as our teacher.
