By: FR. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
January 24, 2021
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
National Bible Sunday
Jonah 3: 1-10 / Psalm 25: 4-9
I Cor 7: 29-31 / Mk 1: 14-20
TO BE FISHERS OF MEN
Word: The gospel begins with… Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:… (Mk 10:14). For Marks, the phrase “gospel of God” points out to the Paschal Message which shall be proclaimed in Galilee: “But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee” (Mk 14:28).
Galilee. Mark lays stress on the territory in which Jesus is at work. This word has not merely a geographical meaning. This region has a theological significance. The Bible called it “the Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 8:23, 1 Maccabees 5:15, Matthew 4:15). It is because of the Assyrian and Chaldean invasions had led to an exchange of populations that many non-Jewish people were now living there. The Galileans, easily recognized by their rough ‘foreign’ pronunciation (Mt 26:73) were despised and mistrusted by the other Jews. This is how the coming of Jesus to Galilee has a symbolic meaning.
By choosing to preach in “the Galilee of nations”, Jesus is acting as a missionary. He seeks contacts with all. And Mark, writing in Rome for converts from pagan religions, naturally stresses this point.
For everyone, the kingdom of God is at hand (Mk 14:15b). In this text, Jesus declares that he comes to accomplish God’s promises. The Plan of God will triumph: the poor, the hungry, those who weep or are oppressed, the sinners and the sick, will be freed (Lk 4:16-30). With and in Jesus, God is present and at work in this world.
For everyone too, there is this urgent invitation to repent, and believe in the gospel (Mk 14:15c). This nearness of God is meant for all: each one of us may welcome him, at every moment. How? By making a complete turn over, by a total and thorough change in ourselves, by being converted and becoming a believer. Repent and believe – to shortest sermons, two active verbs. These verbs are illustrated by the two concise “vocation narratives” that follow.
The first. 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” (Mk 14:16-17). Mark wants to show us how imperative and urgent is the call to conversion. One must begin to follow. Jesus is not one of those young Rabbis like the scribes who gather together to discuss, reflect, exchange ideas, teach the correct doctrine. Jesus is not primarily a “leader of thought”, but a leader of action”. He demands of his disciples not sharp ears and great intelligence, but enough strength and will to journey with him. The gospel according to Mark is filled with journeys here and there. Jesus is an itinerant teacher.
The second. 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 (Mk 14:19-20a). Faith is not primarily concerned with a doctrine or ideas, but with a Person. When Jesus asks us to “believe in the Good News”, he means that we must adhere to him, follow him. What matters is that we be attached to his Person.
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Order: The sign of this commitment to follow Jesus is that one must leave something. The fishermen are in turn caught up in the net of the Good News. They are caught. They will never get out of it. The Church is already prepared.
How moving it is to think that “God needs us”! Yes, we know how the first four men associated with the grand enterprise of building God’s Kingdom which Jesus begins to undertake. In order for the Kingdom of God to come, we are all needed. In these words, everyone should recognize his or her own personal call, his or her own vocation.
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Realities: Once there came to Socrates a very ordinary man called Aeschines. “I am a poor man,” said Aeschines. “I have nothing else, but I give you myself.”
“Do you not see,” said Socrates, “that you are giving me the most precious thing of all?” (Quote, THE BEST GIFT: SELF)
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Direction: O Lord, help us, for only you can do so. It is really you whom people are imploring when they invoke the various Divinities. No matter what they seem to desire, it is none other than the Supreme Good— and you are that Good. In their mental searching it is really your Truth which they seek. For a living being longs only for life, and a person endowed with existence seeks only for being. Hence, it is you, giver of life and being, who are sought in various ways in different rites, you who are called by different names—for what you are you remain for all: unknown and ineffable. Almighty God, invisible to every spirit, you can manifest yourself to each according to his capacity. Do not hide yourself, O Lord. Be gracious and show your face, and your people will be saved. (Prayer That God May Manifest Himself to All Who Seek Him, St. Nicholas of Cusa <1401-1464> Cardinal and Scholar )