3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B - January 21, 2024

 3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B 

January 21, 2024     5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

“Repent” 

 

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” 

 

These are the first words that Jesus speaks in Mark’s Gospel. Like the other gospel writers, Mark is putting his memories in order as he writes his account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

 

Right before today’s verses, in chapter one of his gospel, he tells us that John the Baptist was preaching repentance. And here, he records Jesus saying: “Repent.”

 

So, repenting must be important. The question I want to think about with you is: what does it mean to repent?

 

I’ve been doing some reading and thinking about this and want to share two ideas. My focus is: what repenting is and what it is not.

 

God and Not Just Me

 

My first idea is that repenting doesn’t mean that we focus just on ourselves.

 

Instead, it means that we look first at Jesus and God’s love for us. I try to do this when I lead the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass.

 

Almost always, I recommend that we entrust ourselves to the love of God. Then, only after that, do we bring to God some area of sin, some area where we need to grow in the way of Jesus.

 

And right after that, we again turn to God in the prayer of forgiveness that the priest offers. So, repentance is not just about me or us. 

 

When repentance begins and ends with God, we can much more easily remain assured that we are God’s beloved daughters and sons, no matter what we have done or failed to do. This is the basis of true gospel repentance. 

 

Centrality and Not Priority

 

The other idea I want to share, and this may surprise you, this idea is that repenting doesn’t mean making Jesus my priority.

 

Instead, it is about centrality – making Jesus central in my life. Here is what I mean. 

 

I recently read that the word priority is never used in the gospels. In everyday life, we almost must have priorities – for our family, our job, our health, and on it goes. 

 

But this word is never used in the gospels, and Jesus never tells us to make him our priority. And so, this may not be a good way to understand our relationship with God. 

 

For one thing, how much do we have to do for God or give to God to say that God is really our priority? That’s a tough question to answer. 

 

And beyond that, if we make God our number one priority, then is your husband or wife or family or friend number two or three or what? That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. 

 

If we look at Jesus’ teachings and the way he called people to follow him, as in today’s gospel, the word centrality seems to be more accurate. He wants us to make him, to make God central in our lives. 

 

If I look upon it this way, then God or Jesus will be like a stone landing in a pond. It will have a rippling effect upon the whole pond. 

 

So, if I work at making Jesus central, then I will be letting him affect everything else in my life. My relationships, what I say to or about others and how I say it, even my inner attitudes. 

 

Making Jesus central will have a positive effect without getting us into the trap of figuring out who is number one and who is number two. Making God central is part of the process of repenting. 

 

Conclusion

 

So, I believe that this way of understanding repentance or repenting is truer to the gospel. 

 

It is not heavy and burdensome. It does not lead us into unhealthy, inappropriate guilt about what we have done or, much less, into shame about who we are.

 

Instead, it starts with a good relationship with a loving God who holds us as beloved. And then, holding God as central moves us to let the way of Jesus influence more and more dimensions of our lives. 

 

That’s how I see repentance. I find this freeing and motivating and life-giving.

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B - January 14, 2024

 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B 

January 14, 2024     8:30 and 11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

“What are you looking for?”

 

“What are you looking for?”

 

These are the first words that Jesus speaks in John’s Gospel. John, like the other gospel writers, is ordering his memories as he writes his account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

 

And the very first thing he records Jesus saying is: “What are you looking for?” This question must be important.

 

Jesus is asking this of two disciples of John the Baptist. But in truth, he is also asking this same question to each one of us: “What are you looking for?”

 

Our Earlier Answers

 

I think we answer this question in different ways at different times in our lives.

 

There are some authors who see our life as having two halves. In the first half or earlier years of our life, we answer the question one way.

 

For example, in our earlier years we may be looking for safety and security. Or to make the cut and be on the soccer team.

 

We may be looking to be invited to birthday parties of other children or be included in gatherings with our high school classmates. Or to get into the college we want to go to.

 

We may be looking to get married and have a family. Or to get a good job and get ourselves set financially. 

 

And, I hope, we may be looking to feel okay with God. To obey the commandments and feel assured that we will make it to heaven. 

 

All of these things are good and even important. They help to build a structure for our lives, and we all need that.

 

Our Later Answers 

 

But then, there comes a time in our lives when we answer Jesus’ question differently – let’s call this the second half of life. 

 

“What are you looking for?” And here, in these years, many of us may answer this question in a similar way. 

 

For example, here we are usually looking for some definitive meaning for our lives. What should I be doing or not doing?

 

Where can I turn to know what kind of person I should be? Am I working at becoming that kind of person? 

 

For this longing, the disciples in today’s gospel give us a clue. They address Jesus as “Rabbi” which means “Teacher.”  

 

He is the One with the wisdom and insight that really matters. He shows us what to do and the person we are to become. 

 

So, Jesus as “Rabbi” or “Teacher” satisfies our longing for a sense of purpose and direction. He helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”

 

And then, most of us in these years are looking for hope. We want hope in the midst of physical or emotional suffering.

 

We want hope when we feel anxious about the future. We want hope when we are in darkness.

 

For this longing, the disciples today again give us a clue. They address Jesus as “Messiah” which is translated “Christ.”

 

There had been hope for a Messiah for centuries. So, the disciples are saying that Jesus himself is our hope.

 

This hope extends even to our own dying. So again, he helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”      

 

And finally, in this half of life most of us are looking for the transcendent. We want to be in relationship with the God who created us.

 

We want to know something about God, who he is and what he is like. We want some sense that we are close to God and that he is with us on the journey of life.   

 

For this longing, John the Baptist today gives us a clue. He speaks of Jesus as “the Lamb of God.”

 

The Baptist is referring here to the Passover lamb that was eaten each year to remember God’s presence and saving action centuries ago.  But John now speaks of Jesus, a person, as the “Lamb, and even as the “Lamb of God.”

 

So, Jesus is God with us on the journey of life, close to us, and showing us what he, what God is like. And in that, again, he helps us to answer the question: “What are you looking for?”     

 

Conclusion

 

So, whatever stage of life I am in right now:

 

Know – know that Jesus asks each of us this question.

Try to feel – feel the urgency of this question. 

And act – act by making an intention to answer this for myself.

“What are you looking for?

Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle B - January 7, 2024

 Feast of the Epiphany – Cycle B

January 7, 2024 – 5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton       

 

The Magi’s Darkness 

 

So, we have this story about the Magi or Wise Men from the East.

 

We assume that there were three of them since they brought three gifts to the newborn Jesus. We are told that they are led by and are following a star.

 

I have to imagine that they looked up to the heavens and saw maybe a lot of stars. But it was still dark on the ground where they were, and the sky was dark with the exception of the small twinkling stars. 

 

In that darkness, the magi discern one star that stands out and attracts them. They stick with that star and follow it in the midst of darkness. 

 

Our Darkness

 

I believe that each of us has had or someday will have some darkness in our lives.

 

I do not mean the darkness of a January night or the darkness in our homes when the electricity goes out. Here I mean personal darkness.

 

For example, grieving the death of a husband or wife. Feeling alone or lonely.

 

Losing my job. Feeling overwhelmed about financial problems.

 

Worry about growing older. Feeling anxious about a doctor’s report.

 

Suffering with a serious illness. Finding my marriage falling apart. 

 

Being bullied by a classmate. Feeling rejected and that we don’t belong or fit in. 

 

Questioning my basic life choices. Questioning my faith.

 

I think that many of us can identify a time of darkness in our lives. I can, especially from a time in my early years as a priest.

 

The question is: what do we do when we find ourselves in this darkness? Over the years, I have come to see two things as important.  

 

1.    Remember the Light 

 

The first thing to remember light.

 

Remember the times of light that we have had. The sense of direction and clarity we once had.

 

Remember the experience of being loved and of loving. The closeness of family and friends.

 

Remember the consolation of faith and religion and Church. The feeling of security and closeness to God in our prayer.

 

So, remember the times of light. That’s the first thing to do when we are in the darkness. 

 

And, by the way, it is good to note and be aware of these times of light when they are happening and be thankful for them. It’s like putting some money in the bank that we can use on a rainy day.  

 

2.    Focus on a Light

 

And then, the second thing is: focus on a light.

 

The magi stayed focused on this one star. We may only find a glimmer of light, the faintest of lights in our darkness, but we need to hold on to it and stay focused on it.

 

I, of course, recommend that this would be a prayer, maybe some prayer that we learned a long time ago or some prayer that we have just recently come across. Or maybe some word that can sustain us – like the word “Emmanuel”, which means “God-with-us,” or the words about Jesus in our Profession of Faith, that he is “Light from Light.”

 

Repeat the prayer or the words every day, even when we don’t feel like it, even when it feels just like empty words, but keep doing it anyway. I, for one, can identify with this from that one time earlier in years as a young priest. 

 

Let this prayer or expression be for us the star. Let this be the glimmer of light to lead us through the darkness.

 

It may take time. After all, the magi probably came from modern-day Iraq. 

 

It is a trip of 645 miles from Baghdad to Jerusalem. So, they travelled far and long, but they got there and they are an inspiration for us when we are in darkness. 

 

If we do this, we can find or re-find the light. We can find the One who is Light itself.

 

In Summary 

 

So, maybe the Epiphany message comes down to this:

 

Know that there will probably be experiences of darkness.

Feel hope that there is and can be light. 

And Act on that hope with steady faithfulness.