By Martin Jumbam
The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, January 26, 2014, as the third Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place. Amen.”
The main theme of this day’s Mass is definitely that of light. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah consoles the land of Galilee, which is now swallowed up as a gentle province, that she will glow with the light of God’s radiance before the rest of the land receives his redemption. The first reading and the Responsorial Psalm both express the confident hope that the Lord will prove himself to be the light and help of his people. That light comes through Jesus Christ who, in the Gospel message, is seen as God’s light shining on Israel and mankind as a whole from the insignificant region of Galilee. The first members of the lost sheep of the house of Israel to hear and answer our Lord’s call are still from Galilee of the nations. They follow the light of Christ which they will later take to the ends of the earth. In the Second reading, from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul is greatly troubled by divisions in the Church in Corinth. In the strongest terms, he appeals for unity, the unity among Christians which we have been praying for over the past week. We pray in the course of this Eucharist for the courage to follow the only saving light that there is, Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer.
First Reading: Isaiah 9: 1-4.
In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Napthtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you with joy as at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Historians tell us that the exile of Israel began a century and a half before the fateful August day of 587 BC when the wall of Jerusalem was pierced by the Assyrians under Tiglath Pilser III, who in 732 BC ravaged the region around Galilee and deported its inhabitants to Babylon.
This passage describes the distress of those who are being taken into exile as they can see that their enemies have completely destroyed their country. This depressing picture is however offset by Isaiah’s prophecy of consolation for Galilee. A new king, Hezekiah, a pious man, who puts his trust in the Lord, has taken over from his father, King Ahaz, who had entered into an unholy alliance with the rulers of Damascus and Samaria in the vain hope that together they could ward off the increasing threats from the Assyrians. Isaiah strongly condemned this alliance with the warning that such an alliance would not be a protection against the Assyrians (8: 5-8) because pacts made by men would fail, unless they take God into consideration (8: 8-10).
In Isaiah’s prophecy of consolation, Galilee, that has been swallowed up by the ravaging Assyrian forces will soon glow with the light of God’s saving radiance. Her fertile prosperity of old will be restored and her joy and happiness at God’s new visitation will overflow. The new king of Galilee, Hezekiah, wins a temporary victory over the Assyrians and Isaiah acclaims it as God’s victory. Those who put their faith in God, he strongly advised, would always win.
Christian tradition interprets this prophecy of light shining from Galilee as referring to Jesus Christ. As the Psalmist says in the Responsorial Psalm of this day: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Ps 27:1). In the Creed, we refer to Christ as “Light from light.”
Matthew’s Gospel of this day refers to this prophecy of Isaiah. Israel’s complete return to God starts from Galilee, a region that was despised by some Jews as scarcely qualifying to be part of the holy land, infiltrated as it was by pagans. Ironically, it is from Galilee of the Gentiles that the light of salvation shines to the world in the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord. It is also from this region that Christ selects his first companions, those who would spread his word to the four corners of the earth after his ascension to his glory.
What inspiration can we draw from this reading? It is clear that it is not always from among those who think themselves to be the greatest or the most righteous that God draws those he sends out to carry his message to the city. It is usually through the humblest of us all that Christ’s light shines to others. As Christ himself says: “I am the light of the world and whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12).
Let us pray that God should shine the light of salvation on our country, Cameroon. May our country, like Galilee of the Gentiles, become a land of hope and salvation for our people, who walk about like sheep without a shepherd. For those who call, the Lord hears their voice and showers them with his mercy. Amen.
Second Reading: First Corinthians 1:10-13.17.
I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
As we heard last Sunday, Corinth was one of the most important commercial cities in Saint Paul’s time. Like Douala, it was a city with many different religions and with temples dedicated to all sorts of gods, and was notorious for its low level of morality. In fact, Corinth became synonymous with immorality.
That was the city Saint Paul preached the Christian message to, and God’s help enabled him to found a flourishing Christian community. From Acts of the Apostles (18:1-18), we know that Paul founded the Church of Corinth with the help of Silas and Timothy during his second missionary journey. He spent more than a year and a half preaching in that city. He began by preaching in the synagogue to Jews and Greeks alike but because of the opposition he received from the Jews, he decided to concentrate on preaching to the Gentiles only.
Even though his mission was a success, Paul still faced considerable problems in Corinth. There were various parties in dispute, with Christians even bringing cases against each other before pagan courts, and there was a general laxity in church worship. The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to correct such errors among his converts. Paul warns that divisions among Christians are divisions in the one body of Christ.
In the passage for our meditation, Saint Paul addresses the dissensions in the Corinthian community. A number of factions have grown up among the converts, each claiming to follow a prominent personality. There is a group claiming to belong to Apollos, a Jewish convert from Alexandria (Egypt), a man of eloquence, who is well versed in the Scriptures (Acts 18: 24-28). Another group claims to follow Peter (Cephas), the leader of the Apostles, another group considers Paul its leader while others pay allegiance to Christ.
Paul strongly objects to such divisions, telling them, and us, that unity in Church does not depend on which teacher we have or who baptized us; unity is based on Christ, whom all preachers preach because he is the only one who was crucified for everyone, and his is the name we are all baptized in. There is only one Christ to whom all Christians belong.
It is through baptism, the door of the Christian life, that a Christian becomes part of the one body of Christ. When Christ sent out his Apostles to go out into the whole world, he also charged them to preach and to baptize (Mt. 28: 19-20). Saint Paul says that his main task is to preach the Gospel, leaving the task of baptism to the other Apostles. Preaching helps people to receive the sacraments with better dispositions, and it makes them better aware of what the sacraments are.
What lesson do we draw from this passage? Saint Paul’s call for unity among his Corinthian converts comes at an appropriate moment when we are praying for the unity of all who consider Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Let us say this prayer for Christian unity from a Catholic prayer book: “Lord Jesus Christ, at your Last Supper you prayed to the Father that all should be one. Send your Holy Spirit upon all who bear your name and seek to serve you. Strengthen our faith in you, and lead us to love one another in humility. May we who have been reborn in one baptism be united in one faith under one Shepherd. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, who lives and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.”
Gospel: Matthew 4: 12-23.
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Napthtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Napthtali, towards the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
In this Gospel passage, Matthew reminds us of the prophecy of Isaiah, which we heard in the first reading, and which says that the Messiah would give light to the whole world as he starts his public ministry. Herod, the tyrant monarch, has thrown the prophet of fire, John the Baptist, in prison, thus silencing the voice from the wilderness. To ensure that the forces of oppression do not prevent the people who have been walking in darkness, from seeing the great light, Jesus immediately picks up from where John leaves off. He begins his public ministry by preaching the gospel of repentance.
His first act is to call the first men who will assist him in his ministry and who will continue to spread his word to the four corners of the earth when he finally goes up to his Father. These men he calls as he walks along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. They are, like him, simple men from Galilee. The first to be called are two brothers, Simon and Andrew, fishermen by trade, who immediately abandon their trade to follow him. They are followed by another pair of brothers, the sons of Zebedee, James and John, fishermen too, who also leave everything to follow the Lord.
Blessed John Paul II puts it beautifully: “These men experienced the fascination of the hidden light that emanated from him, and they followed him without delay so that their path through life might shine with his brightness. But that light of Jesus shines out for everyone” (Homily, January 25, 1981). These are the first men from the house of Israel to answer our Lord’s call favorably. They now share his mission to bring the kingdom close to everyone.
As Christ calls these simple fishermen to follow him, so does he call each and everyone of us to follow him more closely each day. He chooses his disciples from among the lowest and simplest class of people, most of them illiterate. He wants people who will be entirely dedicated to him, people he can make into fishers of men and women of their day. He finds in these fishermen men of courage, patience, perseverance and right judgment.
He is also calling you and me out of the darkness into which sin has plunged us to follow him, he who is the light to the world. Since that first call of those simple fishermen, men and women of all generations throughout the centuries have dropped everything they have to answer that call, some even sacrificing their lives in the process. For the past over two thousand years, those simple words, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!” spoken on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, have echoed throughout the world, including our own on which the Lord’s seed has fallen on fertile soil.
Christ does not address his call to follow him only to a given class of people. He is not only speaking to the clergy but to every Christian. We are all called to be apostles of Christ and bearers of his light of salvation to our families and to our society as a whole. To be worthy apostles of Christ, we must have hearts that are free of jealousy, hatred and egoism. Let us, as Saint Augustine says, be “lamps which have been lit with the light of truth.” Amen.
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