Third Sunday in the Ordinary Time (Year A) January 26, 2014 I. GOSPEL READING (Matthew 4:12-23) When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. Points for Reflection 1. A Fulfillment of the Prophecy Jesus’ decision to withdraw to Galilee and “live in Capernaum in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali” was presumably an escape from Herod for at that time, he had just had John the Baptist arrested. It was providential; fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy in the First Reading (Isaiah 8:23-9:3), as quoted by Matthew in the gospel. Isaiah prophesied that Zebulun and Naphtali would be the first to see the light of God’s salvation. In the dark history of Israel, they were part of the group of tribes that rebelled against the house of David. Their rejection of the covenant was so radical that it ended with God’s severe judgment through conquest by their enemies. They were the very first to feel the ravages of the Assyrian attack, where many were killed or sent into exile. Right in this land where the light had first gone out, Jesus sets foot, thus fulfilling the prophecy: “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.” He was the light, who would bring the lost back to God with forgiveness, healing and renewal. 2. Jesus’ Message “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” At the exact place where David’s kingdom first began to fall, Jesus preaches about “the kingdom”. Jesus was also the light, who would call all Israel – north and south – to unite as one people. He did not want Israel to live as a divided kingdom again. All the covenant people would now follow one Light: the true heir to David’s throne and only Son of God. But, “the kingdom” would also include all nations, as signified by the phrase: “beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles”. This is the hallmark of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee; to gather all as one people of God. This was the motivation of St. Paul in the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17). Troubled by division, he urged his community to be “united in the same mind and in the same purpose”. In contrast to “human eloquence”, which was the cause of creating “followings” that led to division, St. Paul reminded them of the stark reality of the Cross of Christ. His death moves one to deep repentance and interior conversion. When we cleave to this dramatic truth, we will not empty the Cross of its meaning because of personal rivalries and divisions. 3. The response of the disciples. In the gospel reading, we see right away the effect of Jesus’ preaching. Simple fishermen – Peter, Andrew, James, John – doing their ordinary daily work “left everything to follow him”. This is in stark contrast to the rebellious spirit that had created the northern kingdom in the first place. But what was the reason for such a response? The story did not even indicate that they had seen nor heard Jesus before. Why did they give up everything? Inexplicably, there was something about Jesus that drew people to him: he is “light” that penetrates the heart and mind. Falling short of words to describe it, the psalm simply makes this acclamation: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” (Psalm 27:1,4,13-14) II. OUR LADY’S MESSAGE: “The Light and Glory of the Lord” (Message 220) February 2, 1981 Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus a. Entrust yourselves to me, beloved sons, with complete abandonment and with the greatest confidence in your immaculate Mother. As I did my own Child, Jesus, I take you too today into my arms, to present you each day in the temple of the Lord. b. Let yourselves be offered by me to God, on the altar of my Immaculate Heart: c. To be his light, which must ever shine more and more in the midst of the darkness which has recently covered the earth. d. The light shines, even though the darkness still does not want to receive it. This light must shine through you, my beloved sons, because this forms part of your priestly mission. e. Spread about you the light of the truth which is contained in the Gospel, which is the very light of my Son Jesus. f. My motherly duty is that of making Jesus live in each one of you, to his very fullness. g. Never before as in these difficult times is it so necessary that all priests be Jesus alone, lived and living, to be once again the light of all nations: his merciful eyes in your eyes; his divine Heart in your heart; his soul in your soul; his love in your love, to spread everywhere in the Church the fullness of this light. h. To be his glory, which through you must be reflected in every part of the world. i. At the same moment, in fact, in which humanity is experiencing the greatest rejection of God in all history, you are being immolated on the secret altar of my Immaculate Heart, to sing today the glory of the Father, the mercy of the Son and the love of the Holy Spirit: j. The glory of the new people of Israel, called to prepare humanity for the return of Jesus; k. The glory of the renewed Church, which will experience its new Pentecost of fire, of grace and of light; l. The glory of a new humanity, purified in the great tribulation, now ready to live the ineffable moment of its complete return to the Lord. m. This is a grave hour, my dear sons. Therefore live out each day, with love and faithfulness, the consecration which you have made. Allow yourselves to be always carried in my arms as my little Jesus, leaving everything to your heavenly Mother, that for each one of you also the plan of the Father may be fulfilled. Points for Reflection: 1. Light and Glory: Distinctive Features of Consecration The message highlights two distinctive features of our consecration: “light” and “glory”. Through our consecration, we are interiorly transformed to become the “light” and the “glory” of the Lord. This transformation, according to Our Lady, is a divine prodigy of the Holy Spirit, which takes place in her Immaculate Heart (131 h). In it, “the most pure light of the Divine Trinity is reflected” (131 a); and in it “shines brilliantly all the glory of the Most Holy Trinity” (131 m). In her Immaculate Heart, we are “well cultivated until each one attains that resemblance to Jesus” (131d). And, she concludes, her duty is that “of making Jesus live in each of us to his very fullness” (220 f). 2. Light and Glory: God’s Image and Likeness in Man “Light” and “glory” are among the divine attributes, and which are fully contained in Jesus. As the Incarnate Son, he is the perfect image and likeness of God. St. Maximilian Kolbe explained that, in view of her Immaculate Conception, Our Lady has the prerogative of “generating all of God’s children into the perfect likeness of her divine Son”. By this privileged act we are divinized; whereby Divinity and all of Its attributes is fused with our humanity, similar to a hypostatic union made possible only through Jesus Incarnation. This concept is now being further explicated through several Church-approved mystics. In this process of divinization, God’s image and likeness are restored in us, thus making us the “light” and the “glory” of the Lord. 3. His Light and His Glory in the World In her message, she calls each one of us to be “his light, which must ever shine more and more in the midst of the darkness which has recently covered the earth” (220 c). She also calls us to be “his glory, which through you must be reflected in every part of the world” (220 h). “Live out each day, with love and faithfulness, the consecration which you have made. Allow yourselves to be always carried in my arms as my little Jesus, leaving everything to your heavenly Mother, that for each one of you also the plan of the Father may be fulfilled.” (220 n) God bless you all! Yours in the Immaculate Heart, Fr. Omer Marian Movement of Priests
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 13:51:46 +0000
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