Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
In a couple of weeks, we will receive ashes on our foreheads and hear the words “Repent and believe in the Gospel”. Ash Wednesday is on February 14th this year. It is early so, even though we are in Ordinary Time, as we begin to look toward Lent and Passion Week, we should begin to ask ourselves “Do I really believe in the Gospel?”
John Pilch tells us “Scholars believe that after his baptism, Jesus became a disciple of John, preaching his message of repentance and baptizing others. Over the course of time, Jesus began to discover a new ministry for himself. According to Mark, Jesus embarked upon it after John was arrested.
The theme of Jesus’ preaching is quite similar to that of the Baptist’s: “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news”. Jesus invites his listeners to give undivided loyalty to God whose definitive reign is about to begin.”
Jesus then calls the first four of his disciples to follow him. We are still in the first chapter of Mark and a lot has happened. John the Baptist preaches a message of repentance. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist and then tempted by Satan; just like we are tempted. Jesus begins his ministry and calls the first disciples and begins his miracles of healing.
The disciples immediately leave their livelihood and follow Jesus. This always seemed strange that they just stopped what they were doing, left their father and the hired help and followed Jesus. John Pilch helps us understand the culture of that time.
“Cultural background and information shed light on the story. It is highly likely that Jesus and the four followers he summons here are not strangers. If they have not personally met each other before this time, they were aware of each other’s aspirations and objectives. News traveled quickly in the ancient world thanks to gossip networks. (And I might add, it seems that hasn’t changed in two thousand years.)
Jesus the artisan moves from Nazareth, an insignificant village, to Capernaum, a hub of activity on the Sea of Galilee at the crossroads of major highways. His presence and activity stir curiosity and become the topic of gossip. He does not seem to have gone there to seek work. Instead, he appears to be seeking people to join him in a common venture.”
Jesus has been in the background for most of his life. He is thirty at this point and worked as a carpenter just like his earthly father, Joseph. This was common to learn the trade from your father and have the same position in life as your father. As we proceed through the Gospels this theme appears several times. His father was a carpenter so how is he now a teacher or Rabbi? It was out of place in that society.
Jesus became noticeable because he taught with authority, not like the scribes and leaders of the synagogue, he spoke out against the establishment, against those who followed the Law so closely that they allowed no room for worshiping God.
Sometimes we too get like the Pharisees; congregations become divided over where the altar should be placed or how to process into mass or which songs to sing, or not sing. We adhere so precisely to the rules that we lose sight of the real message “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Now is the time of fulfillment. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
Jesus called many others to follow him during his ministry. The young rich person who had many possessions and went away sorrowful because they were unwilling to put Christ above their possessions. The person who wanted to wait for their parents to die before following Christ. Our egos to get in the way. We desire to have prestige, to be noticed for our accomplishments, to have power over others, to dream of being the hero in a difficult situation and receiving acclaim for our actions.
We lose sight of the real message of Good News that Jesus taught, Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” When Jesus calls us to “Repent and believe in the Gospel” we seem to hesitate. Why? What is holding us back? What are we afraid of? Scorn from co-workers, being held back from a promotion because we are Catholic, attachment to material things or placing family above God?
Two thousand years later, Jesus calls each one of us to follow him, just like he called Simeon, Andrew, James, and John. I have often wondered what the world would be like if I had the zeal of the early Apostles or St Paul. They didn’t just preach the Gospel; they lived the Gospel.
It seems that most of the time we are like Jonah. We hear God’s call but don’t want to follow it. We have our reasons just as Jonah had his. The Ninevites were an enemy of Israel. Jonah wanted them to be destroyed so the land would return to Israel.
Jonah disobeyed God and ran away from his call. How many times do we do the same thing. Like Jonah, we have our reasons. God continued to call Jonah to fulfill the mission that God was calling him to do. We sometimes run away from it like Jonah, wanting to follow our own path in life.
Each of us must ask ourselves, “What is God calling me to do?” Is God calling me to speak to someone about God’s love, about his forgiveness and the true peace that only Christ can give? Is God calling me to be a Priest, or join an order of religious life?
How will we respond? Like Jonah and run away from his call, or, like the disciples, and follow Christ?
