Cycle A - Year II:  

26 January 2014: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Matthew 4:12-23

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand!

After a series of solemnities or special feast days, this Sunday we begin a new liturgical season which is called Ordinary Time. And today is the third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In the Catholic liturgical calendar, Ordinary Time is that part in the yearly cycle of 33 or 34 weeks in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated but rather the mystery of Christ in all its fullness. The liturgical color of the priest's vestment and the altar cloth.changes to green.

In the Gospel, Matthew wrote that Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee when he heard that John the Baptist has been arrested by authorities. 

Jesus begins to preach by taking up John's message of repentance. He tells his listeners to repent and believe in the good news of God's kingdom.

Repentance requires a life-change and a transformation of heart and mind. By repentance Jesus challenges us to change direction and priorities in life. It is not just turning away from our old sinful ways but more on turning to a new life by believing in the good news of the gospel. It is through repentance that the human person finds true liberation -- freedom from the wages of sin and the discovery of authentically integrated life in Christ.

To believe is to take Jesus at his word as he proclaims the good news of God's kingdom, to believe that God loves us so much that He sent his only begotten Son to redeem us from the slavery of sin and death.

And what is the good news that Jesus came to deliver? It is the good news of peace (meaning, restoration of our relationship with God), of hope in the resurrection and heaven, of truth (because God's word is true and reliable), of promise or rewards for those who seek Him, of immortality (God gives everlasting life) and the good news of salvation (which means liberty from sin and freedom to live as sons and daughters of God).

The second part of the gospel narrates how Jesus calls his first recruits as apostles. They were ordinary fishermen in the Sea of Galilee casting their nets into the sea: Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and two other brothers, James, the son of  Zebedee and his brother, John. He called them and they immediately left their boat and their father and followed Jesus.

 

By our own baptism, we too are called to continue the mission that Jesus began in Galilee. Through our authentic Christian living we proclaim the good news in our time and become witnesses of God's love, especially for the poor and the suffering people in our midst.

The Church also celebrates this Sunday National Bible Sunday. Let us keep the habit of daily reading and reflecting on the word of God in the bible under the faithful guidance of our Mother Church.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!