To leave, to preach and to call

                                                         Sunday Homily for 3rd Sunday in ordinary time year A

                                      Readings: Isaiah 8:23—9:3 | Psalm 27 | 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 | Matthew 4:12-23

                                                               Theme: To leave, to preach and to call. WATCH VIDEO OF THIS HOMILY

This is a Sunday Homily for 3rd Sunday in Ordinary time year A. We read the gospel passage from saint Matthew. There, we find Jesus who begins his public ministry at Galilee. What happens when John, the Baptist is arrested? Of course, Jesus does three things that are described by the three verbs namely “to leave, to preach and to call”. On this 3rd Sunday in ordinary time homily, we shall see how Jesus called his first disciples and why he called them.

In the gospel passage for this 3rd Sunday in ordinary time year A, When Jesus heard that John, the Baptist has been arrested, He took 3 important steps, namely:

1. He left Nazareth and settled at Capernaum.

2. He preached

3. He called the first group of disciples.

Let us begin with why Jesus Christ left Nazareth after John was arrested.The first reason would be that he flew, or he ran away because his time had not come to undergo his passion. The second reason would be to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah as we heard from the first reading of this 3rd Sunday in ordinary time year A. The final reason would be that he wanted to show us that from the negative or from the bad experience of John the Baptist being in prison, Jesus himself would increase as in to come to the forefront in Galilee by starting his public ministry.

Moreover, the second thing that Jesus Christ did after learning that John, the Baptist has been arrested is that he preached. One of the main characteristics of his preaching was:

1. Repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand. For the people of that region to experience conversion and accept salvation because Christ has come to save the lost, those lost because of original sin. Conversion as our Holy Father Augustine would say is a lifelong journey. Conversion is a repentance process in life rather than a one-day event because we need to experience moral, spiritual and intellectual conversion. How do you repent your sins for the forgiveness of your sins today?

Let us now look at the 3rd step that Jesus Christ took while at the sea of Galilee. The gospel passage tells us that he called the first group of disciples. Why did Jesus Christ, the son of God need disciples for? Frankly speaking, he would not need disciples because he is God, therefore there was absolutely no need. However, he chose the disciples because of the following reasons:

1. To be with him, to experience him and to be sent to spread the good news.

2. To show us collaboration in our ministries. Working in the vineyard of the lord is not a one man show. 

3. To form a community of believers such as the 12 disciples.

How did Jesus Christ call his disciples at the sea of Galilee? He called them by word of mouth that is he simply said, “follow me”. Imagine from this simple statement, they left everything and followed him. From their call, we can single out two outstanding issues namely

1. Detachment

2. Being ready

First and foremost, let us see detachment. As Jesus was having a walk by the sea of Galilee, he probably saw those swimming, those having fun by playing football beach, those basking on the sun after swimming, but he called the four fishermen named Peter, Andrew, James and John. I like this group of disciples because they were working as brothers together. How many today will work together as brothers in the same place or as sisters in the same place without accusing each other falsely? Even in some instances, we hear a husband who does not want to work with his wife at the same place and yet they stay together at home. Let us imitate the example of these four who were working together as a family. In fact, when the four were called, they left everything and followed Christ. They detached themselves from their family, their boats, their friends and attached themselves to Christ but using their skills of fishing to fish people to Christ. When Christ calls us, do we use our professional skills for the good of all or we use our professional skills to manipulate others? What are you called to detach yourself from in order to follow Christ in a better way? On this Sunday, we are reminded to detach ourselves from the material things, any distractions and unnecessary things so that we can hear his call to do charity, to hear his call to care, to love and to forgive others as he forgives us our trespasses.

The second issue that comes from the call of these four disciples is Being ready. When they were called, they were ready to accept the will of God, leave all and follow him. They did not even ask questions like, where are we going, what shall we eat but they put their trust, hope and faith in Jesus Christ who called them. Do we have this confidence in God who calls us today? Are we ready to accept his will today?

To conclude, in this Sunday homily for 3rd Sunday in ordinary time year A, we are invited to detach ourselves, then attach ourselves to Christ who calls each and everyone of us. He calls us to collaborate with others in the vineyard because as they say, one hand cannot clap. Let us pray for the young people to discover their vocations, for the professionals to carry out their work well and for the messengers of God to carry out their ministry according to the will of God. AMEN

                                                                                                HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY!!!!!!