Homily - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday of the Word of God) - Sunday 21st January 2021.

Homily

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday of the Word of God)

Sunday 21st January 2021.

The theme today is about change and making choices about which way to go. Change is a funny thing because often we humans don’t like change. We get comfortable in what we have, and grumble when there comes an upheaval. But change is part of our lives, right from the moment of birth, when we take our first breath. We have been alive for forty weeks in our mother’s womb, then we find all the sounds change, light floods into our eyes, and we feel the coldness of air on our skins for the first time. No wonder we want to cry. Yet, none of us will remember this event. We may hear the stories our parents tell us, especially our mothers, but their lives have changed too. Massively so.

Yes, they’ve had nine months or so to get used to the idea, and Mum has seen changes virtually every day of her pregnancy. There is anticipation, anxiety, and worry about how the new arrival will affect her life and dad’s. Can they live on a single income if one of them stops working to look after the child? Who should it be, mum or dad? That decision is not easy. There are all kinds of psychological changes that must be made. Depending on how the birth goes, the change can be too much for mum, leaving her with depression and perhaps physical disabilities.

For previous generations, extended family most likely lived close by, or a short car journey away. Support could be easily found. Yet today young families are often forced to leave the areas they grew up in, away from grandparents and siblings. Some may have had to emigrate to find work for their skillset, that will allow them to provide for their family, but the networks of support have been broken.

Other families, with teenagers, may find the main breadwinner is forced into redundancy, creating an upheaval for the family. Perhaps they must move, forcing the kids to change schools, or the other parent having to find new work. All change.

The children may have all gone off to college, or university, or simply found a good job and they can pay their own way. Mum and dad may seem to have some time to themselves, then changes in their parent’s circumstances, such as through death and the other not coping on their own, means another person to be looked after. Creating a new dynamic that changes the family home.

Or perhaps, the couple find the fledgelings have flown from home, thinking they finally have some time to themselves, and discover one is ill and needs care. A change that affects both lives and can be emotionally draining. How do they cope?

Jonah panicked when God first told him to go to Nineveh. He ran in the opposite direction, found a ship and left the country. He didn’t want to face the people of Nineveh; he knew how wicked they were. He’d be killed. He wanted none of that. But his way, the one he chose, was more difficult. The sailor discovered his actions had caused the storm that threatened to shipwreck them, so Jonah was thrown overboard. Then he was swallowed by a great fish. Jonah spent three days and nights in its belly, then is thrown out on the dry land, after the Lord had directed the fish.

By trusting in God and following his way, Jonah delivered God’s message to the people of Nineveh about their imminent destruction. They did not kill Jonah but repented, fasted and put on sackcloth. God saw how they responded and relented. The disaster did not happen.

Paul tells us our world is changing and time is short. Our normal behaviours must change because what we know will pass away. The messengers of fear drill into us what is happening on this planet daily. Our governments blame the people, and we blame them for things that are going wrong. It’s everyone else’s fault.

The Good News Jesus proclaimed is “the time has come, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News”. The changes we must make is to stop trying to fix things ourselves, stop trying to be in control, because we are not, and turn to God, repent and be forgiven.

The fishermen were fixing their nets, but when they saw Jesus and he asked them to follow him, they dropped everything and did as he said. In today’s Gospel, Mark tells us about Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John being called. Then in Chp 3 all twelve are mentioned, including Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, the second James, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanean and Judas Iscariot.

Each, when called, dropped everything and followed Jesus, changing their lives. Though we may struggle, if we constantly try to take control, as Jonah did, disaster will follow, but if we can have a change of heart, to allow God to make known to us his ways, we will find peace. If we continue to worry about how to solve our lives, we will be tormented, but by following Jesus our burdens will be light. He will take the load and what we fear will be taken away. The kingdom of God is close at hand: repent and believe the Good News.

Amen.

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