Breaking Open the Word - 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B — January 24th, 2021
Pope Francis has declared this the “Sunday of the Word of God” – a special time to study the Scriptures and grow in our love for them. This theme inspired the first part of our sharing for this week, as we pondered how each of the readings emphasizes the power of God’s Word in our lives and in salvation history.
The First Reading, the famous story of Jonah, shows the Word of the Lord effecting change both in the prophet and in those to whom he is sent to preach. One Sister noted that even the first call of Jonah, which he resists, is still something he cannot deny or escape from. And when he finally yields to the Lord’s plan, Jonah finds that the same Word that called him as a prophet also works an astonishing miracle of conversion among the people of Nineveh!
The Psalm is a prayer for God to “teach me Your ways” – and He does this in a beautiful way through His Word, His living “love letter” to humanity.
The Second Reading may not at first glance seem to be related to our theme of God’s Word, since it consists in an exhortation to watchfulness for the Second Coming. However, a Sister brought out the connection by describing how this passage shows the incredible consequences of the Word becoming flesh. Nothing can ever be the same! Furthermore, ever since the Ascension, the world has been in the “last days,” awaiting Christ’s triumphant return at the end of time.
The Gospel, of course, powerfully shows how the word of Christ (Who is Himself the Word of God) inspires the first four Apostles to drop everything and follow Him.
We also discussed the significance of this scene for our own lives. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, had been called by God constantly throughout their lives – called to be faithful to the Law, to live upright lives, and eventually to follow John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Christ (the Gospel of John shows Andrew and “another,” often identified as John the Beloved, as disciples of the Baptist). However, there came a time when God gave them their definitive call, their vocation in Christ, which required a radical decision to trust Him. The fact that these men had been responsive to God’s “preparations” in their lives up to that point made them able to accept the invitation of Christ with such wholehearted and prompt obedience. In a similar way, in each of our lives we are prepared by God with different “calls” and special graces that are designed to make us ready to give ourselves to Him when He asks us to trust Him in a more radical way. This is especially true in the case of vocational discernment; whether a person is called to marriage, religious life, priesthood, or dedicated lay life, the decision to embrace that call of God requires a great deal of trust and love. But if we strive to be faithful to the little ways God “calls” us each day, we will find ourselves with the grace we need to say “yes” to Him when He makes us aware of His Will for our lives.
We finished our Scripture sharing by speaking about an often-neglected character in today’s Gospel: Zebedee, the father of James and John. One Sister was particularly drawn to him as she prayed with this passage, and she shared with us some of her reflections. Just think: this man loses both his sons and two of his fishing partners in the same day, and the Gospels record that his wife eventually becomes a disciple of Christ as well! Yet there is no record of him chasing after any of them, insisting on his rights as a father, an employer, a husband. In fact, his sons James and John (and his friend Peter) are chosen as the “inner circle” among Jesus’ disciples. What a credit to the upbringing they must have received! Zebedee is also mentioned more than any other family member of any of the Apostles – and in the Gospels, frequent mention of a person’s name often indicates their importance in the early Church. Even his name itself is significant – Zebedee means “my gift,” and he certainly gave a great gift to Christ and to the Church in James and John. May we be as generous as he was when God asks sacrifices of us for the good of the Church!