3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A

This is the second of our two-part series on the missions of John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ.

The mission of John has been completed now that He has been arrested.

Now, Jesus begins His mission: “From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Prayer

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

Commentary

1st Reading: Isaiah 8:23-9:3

Our first reading is best read in light of the Gospel. This prophecy that Jesus will be the light of the world that dispels darkness, drives away anguish, and brings rejoicing to the sorrowful is one of the more beautiful and poignant prophecies in Scripture.

One thing that should be said: Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of people seeing a great light, but all of the adjectives used to describe them before Jesus transforms their lives are rather grim. Some of the words that jump out right away are “anguish,” “gloom” (twice), “darkness” (twice), “distress,” and “yoke.”

Christ promises to free us from the dark and joyless existence we experienced before we knew Him, but just as the disciples had to undergo many trials, temptations, and even failures during their lives, we shouldn’t expect
this to happen immediately in our lives either.

Questions

    • How have I experienced the great light of Jesus’ love in my own life?
    • What are some of the ways that it has dispelled darkness and brought me joy?

2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

Just as we saw last week, the problem that is tearing the church in Corinth apart is the factions that exist within it.

The Christians are becoming too focused on things that don’t matter – we can almost see Paul rolling his eyes as he
tries to figure out why the Corinthians are getting so worked up about who baptized who. All of us, he reminds them, are saved by Jesus Christ; all of us were saved by His death on the Cross; all of us were baptized in Him.

To put it a little differently, the minister doesn’t matter as much as the message does. “Is Christ divided?” Paul asks. Of course, the answer is and always should be a resounding, “No!”

Question

    • How can I pray and strive for unity in my own local church, and among the local Body of Christ?
    • How might I need to change my life so that I am not causing division?

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23

Our Gospel this week tells us the story of how four of the Apostles – including three of Jesus’ closest friends! – left everything to follow Him. In Matthew’s Gospel, this takes plalce immediately after Jesus returns from fasting in the desert for forty days and forty nights and being tempted by the devil. This is, then, the very beginning of His ministry, when He first sets out to proclaim the good news: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v.17).

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He goes to visit Peter, Andrew, James, and John in their hometown of Capernaum, and calls them while they are there. This is significant, because it shows us that Jesus always meets us where we are and unapologetically calls us to abandon everything we thought we knew or expected to follow Him.

You think you’re a fisherman? Nope. Not anymore. I’m going to make you a fisher of men. You think that you’re going to take over the Zebedee family business someday? Nice try. You’re going to be entrusted with my Father’s business. Jesus, with two simple words, “Follow me,” forever changes the lives of these four men, and through them, the entire world.

Question

    • Is there an area of my life where Jesus is calling me to follow Him in a more radical way?
This Week’s Task

It can be hard to hear God speak to us sometimes, let alone to obey Him once he does. If we want to hear Jesus call us as clearly as he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, we need to exercise our spiritual hearing, and the only way to do that is through prayer. Take at least five minutes each day this week to pray in silence: no Hail Mary’s, no Our Father’s, no reading of Scripture, no anything. Just silence. Simply begin by saying, “OK, Jesus, it’s your turn. If you want to say something, go ahead.” Then sit with Him in silence for a few minutes.

Group Prayer

The group prays the following:

Father you call each one of us by name and ask us to follow you.

Bless your Church by raising up dedicated and generous leaders from our families and friends who will serve your people as sisters, priests, brothers, deacons, and lay ministers.

Inspire us as we grow to know you, and open our hearts to hear your call.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Continue with Psalm 27.

Psalm

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Conclude with an Our Father

Used with permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.