January 21 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1, Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Gospel, Mark 1:14-20
Reading 2, First Corinthians 7:29-31

This Sunday’s gospel describes the start of Jesus’ public ministry. We hear how he invited four fishermen—Simon, Andrew, James and John—to follow him, to become his disciples. We get a hint of how charismatic Jesus must have been, since all four men stopped their work and immediately came to him. What’s interesting is that they were not rabbis or scholars but fishermen. We have no idea if they could have spoken persuasively to people about Jesus. But Jesus chose them, and even now he chooses each one of us. (Simon, of course, became Peter and is recognized by the Church as the first Bishop of Rome. He had come a long way from fishing in the Sea of Galilee.)

Jesus also announced the good news coming from God. The kingdom—the reign—of God had come into the world. Jesus called upon people to repent and to believe.

Repent, of course, means much more than saying we’re sorry. It means that we need to turn toward Jesus, to change the whole direction of our lives. Only then will God’s will be done on earth. Only then will God’s kingdom become visible to all.

Can we look this week for signs of the kingdom in our community and in today’s world? They are here.