THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
(Jonah 3:1-5.10; I Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20)
The First Letter to the Corinthians is largely Saint Paul's
answers to questions about the Christian life. Like us today, the Corinthians
wanted to know how to live their faith in this troubled world. Because
fundamental problems rarely disappear but reappear in new forms, it should not
surprise us that Paul's advice to the Corinthians serves us well.
Interestingly, today's passage from First Corinthians begins
in a similar way as today's gospel. Both readings warn that now is the time to
act. Jesus says, “This is the time of fulfillment” in the sense that we cannot
wait any longer. Pablo is more to the point. “Life is short,” he writes to the
community of Corinth implying that if they do not act now, they may never act. They may die tomorrow or have other concerns
that demand their attention.
It's like the decision that runners make at six in the
morning. If they don't get out of bed at this time, they may very well miss the
opportunity to exercise that day. Almost always something -- be it a phone
call, an unexpected visit, or a chore that was forgotten about before -- will
prevent them from working out. The time to
act is now, not tomorrow.
What should we do? Again Paul's response conforms to Jesus'
preaching in today’s gospel. Jesus urges: “Repent”; that is, change your way of
thinking. Paul gives content to this command. He says that the Corinthians must
behave as if they lived in a different reality than the current one. This new
reality is the life of the saints who reside with God. Instead of conforming to
the ways of the world, we must live like the blessed.
First, Paul addresses himself to the married. They must live
as if they were not married. That is, they do not think of their spouse as an
instrument to achieve their own goals. Men should not think of their wives as
objects of their erotic fantasies. Women should not think of their husbands as
means to procreate and support children. Spouses have to appreciate each other
as that special person that God has entrusted to him or her to help reach eternal
life.
Paul also urges the joyful not to rejoice. It is not that
Paul does not want to see us happy, but he does not want us to live always seeking
personal comfort and pleasure. Rather, may we have compassion for those who
suffer in our midst. A man has lost his wife and son to cancer. These deaths
cost him dearly, but he has learned how to be cheerful despite his plight. What
is striking is that now he is dedicated to supporting other people who have
suffered like him.
Paul's warning about consumerism concerns us especially
today. Many people buy out of habit and even compulsion. They have all kinds of
gadgets in the house, every invention from Apple or Braun. Truly their desires
have become needs. They should learn that true happiness does not come from buying
things but from cultivating caring relationships. Mother Teresa spoke of the
spiritual poverty of the West as greater than the physical poverty of India.
She said in an interview: “You, in the West, have millions of people suffering
from such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unloved and
unwanted…They know they need something more than money, but they don't know
what it is. What they really lack is a living relationship with God.”
“A living relationship with God” is equal to the Kingdom
that Jesus has brought into the world. It is in part carrying in the mind the
hope of eternal life after death. It is also having a clear conscience and a
heart full of desire for the good of others. And it also includes collaborating
with all types of people – whites and blacks, Muslims and Jews, poor and rich –
for a society in accordance with God’s will.
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