Key:
What these passages tell us about God
What these passages tell us to do
Commentary/observations
The word of the LORD came to Jonah,
saying: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the
message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according
to the LORD'S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large
city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the
city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more
and Nineveh shall be destroyed, " when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
Responsorial Psalm PS 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (4a) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Reading 11 1 COR 7:29-31
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the
time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having
them, those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
Alleluia MK 1:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MK 1:14-20
After John had been arrested, 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."
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther and
saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat
mending their nets. Then he
called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with
the hired men and followed him.
1. God is nothing but
good; He is kind and compassionate.
2. God calls us to Himself.
We see that not only in the first reading, the psalm, and today’s gospel, but
throughout scripture. See, for example, Proverbs
8:4, 7, & 34; Isaiah
55:3; and Matthew
11:28-29. That is well summarized
in the very first paragraph of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
God,
infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own
blessed life. For this reason, at
every time and in every place, God
draws close to man. He calls man to
seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. (emphasis added).
3. Because God wants
us to share in His goodness, He calls us to turn from things that separate us
from His goodness—to repent. He does not
do that to deprive us, but to clear the way for far, far, better things, namely
the things inherent in the perfect, individualized, loving plans He has for
each of us.
4. Sometimes the
things we must turn away from are not bad in of themselves, but they hinder our
union with God in our particular circumstances. The second reading and today’s
gospel are examples of that.
5. God provides very
real helps in making those turns; as the psalm puts it, He “shows sinners the
way. He guides the humble … and teaches the humble his way.”
A. He sends folks to
inform and help us; that’s what Jonah was doing in the first reading and that’s
what Jesus told Simon and Andrew he would equip them to do.
B. He directly helps
us in making those changes, that’s what happened to Jonah before he got to Nineveh,
and what Jesus did with the Simon, Andrew, James, and John as he changed them
from fishermen into fishers of men. Sometimes the help and resulting change is
compressed and dramatic (think about Jonah in the storms and the belly of the
whale) and other times it is more gradual (think of Simon, Andrew, James, and
John as they travelled with Jesus before His ascension and the Holy Spirit
after that).
C. The psalm describes
the key to benefitting from those helps: humility. God “guides the humble … and teaches the humble his way.”
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