3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Is 8:23--9:3
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
1 Cor 1:10-13, 17
Mt 4:12-23 or Mt 4:12-17

In this Sunday's Gospel passage, we hear of the fulfillment of the prophecy given by Isaiah in the first reading: Because of Jesus Christ, the people you know who are sitting in darkness (making no effort to get out of their sin-induced misery), who are overshadowed by the demons of spiritual death and destruction, whose stubbornness is causing you great anguish, have seen the light that will heal them.

Through your prayers and your faithful love, Jesus has been revealed to them. Even as they fight against this truth and hide from him, the great light of Christ cannot be turned off. Soon or eventually this will cause abundant joy and great rejoicing, not only for you, but for those who are being rescued.

Elsewhere in scripture (Luke 12:49-50), Jesus shares his feelings about the people in darkness: "How great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" He knows your anguish and feels the same way you do, but more deeply and fervently. So be assured that he is doing more than you know, even more than you can imagine, to accomplish the victory for which you've been praying. He obtained it on the cross 2000 years ago, and now he is doing everything possible — as well as the impossible — to bring it to fulfillment.

Pray that Divine Providence will use the bad consequences of their stubborn rebellion to draw them to himself. Pray that God will use any person, even wayward companions, as instruments to bring them into his light. Pray that God will work in his way, not in a way that you choose, to dissolve their spiritual rebellion. Pray that after their conversion they will spread the light of Christ powerfully. And pray that their conversion will be deep, definite and permanent.

Remember, we don't pray in order to change God's mind. He's already working to bring the light of Christ to people who are in darkness. We pray to place them into his arms, because they're not asking for this themselves.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

Write a list of the people you know who are living in darkness. Do you trust in the power of Christ's great light and the victory he has already obtained? Make a commitment to feel Christ's anguish more keenly and use this pain to energize you into daily prayer on behalf of darkened souls.

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:

Think of all those who are causing you anguish because they're living in darkness. Get a large candle and scratch their names into it or write them on paper to place next to this candle. Light the candle and bind yourselves together in prayer for these loved ones and agree to continue to support each other in prayer for as long as necessary. Light this candle at all of your community meetings.

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Our Sunday cycle of Scripture readings this year is based on the Gospel of Matthew. In today's selection, Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, and quotes a passage from Isaiah, which the liturgy uses for our first reading. The quote sounds familiar, since we heard it in the Christmas liturgy: "The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light."

Midnight Mass, when the beauty of the birth of the infant Jesus is before us is a contrast to today's scene. In the light of day, Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee, and our thoughts turn to the adult mission of the Messiah. That mission takes place in the midst of the Jewish people, laboring under Roman rule. Along the dusty roads, and in towns and synagogues, in the face of human suffering and sin, and eventually from Calvary's hill, Matthew is proclaiming that the light of Christ will conquer death.

And, lest we think we can remain spectators, as perhaps we were on Christmas before the lovely nativity scene in our church, the liturgy invites us to shoulder the role of disciple, as Jesus calls his first followers. These simple Galilean fishermen left everything in response to that call. Can we hesitate, think it over, give Jesus an answer next week or next month? Not if we take to heart the urgent message of today's Gospel: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Scripture:

•For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. (Isaiah 9:3)

•One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD and contemplate his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

•For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. (1 Corinthians 1:17)

•He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:21b,22)

Reflection:

•How have you experienced Jesus in your life?

•What did it feel like and what was your response?

•Does the experience of Jesus continue to change your life?

Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt. (St. Francis of Assisi)