CONVERSION IS A RADICAL RENEWAL
A Christendom without reformation or renewal is doomed. This conversion is a radical renewal of faith, lifestyle and commitment to God. Our vocation to know, to love and to serve God begins with a call to authentic or genuine conversion.
The effectiveness and efficiency of Christian faith and Christians in the world plagued by irreligiosity, secularization, and ideological indifferences of atheists, agnosticism, the death of God and the irrelevance of religion can only be overcome by authentic reformation. Christianity and Christians cannot remain unreal to the urgency of faith renewal that is very paramount to their survival.
OUR THEME
The readings of the third Sunday of ordinary time invite or call us to conversion or repentance. A radical renewal and repentance from our sins, falsehood, and indifference. Conversion is the first call of vocation response of God´s kingdom. We can never be authentic Christians without conversion, repentance and renewal.
FIRST READING JONAH 3:1-5, 10
Through the Prophet Jonah God´s judgment was pronounced on the people of Nineveh the capital of Assyria. It is a land of biblical iniquitous which God wanted to purify. Unexpectedly, Jonah’s preaching finds a positive response from the pagan Ninevites. They repentance of the sins and seek the face of God. God too had a change of heart on the calamities he wanted to inflict on the city for their sins.
Later, Jesus Christ will allude to the people of Nineveh as those who took advantage of God´s moment of grace, goodness, and mercy to be redeemed (Matthew 12:41; Luke 11:32).
The psalm (24) of today encourages us to seek God´s way so that we can walk in the righteous and truthful path that leads to peace and life. The psalmist declares “Teach me your ways, O Lord”.
SECOND READING 1 CORINTHIANS 7:25-31
Saint Paul continues his discussion on vocational marriage and singlehood and the worries and cares that come with each state of being. He proposes a level of detachment from the dear, familiar things that may be hindrances to us in fulfilling God´s call. Self-discipline is an excellent thing for Paul to overcome the instincts of human passion. It is fundamental to state here that a true or genuine vocation needs a constant act of evaluation, examination and repentance to be productive or fruitful.
It is clear in Paul´s view that marriage is not a sin or staying single a disgrace. Hence, marriage is a good thing to live and singlehood is a better thing to live. As there is freedom from worldly worries to freedom to serve unrestrictedly in singlehood than marriage. However, for Paul, they are all forms of life´s vocation to live, know, love, and serve gracefully.
THE GOSPEL: MARK 1:14-20
Jesus’ call for authentic repentance and belief in the Good News at the beginning of his public life and ministry is very fundamental to the Christian faith and life throughout the ages. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
This calling is urgent and has several implications:
A time-spacious reality of the kingdom of God in and among us Jesus invites us to believe in the gospel. “Believe,” says Jesus, “in the good news.” This implies coming to have faith in God, his Word, and promises. As well as the concrete salvific actions he takes to save us all.
Jesus called for repentance is strong and urgent for the kingdom realization. There is a need for a change of heart and lifestyle-repentance. The word repentance is a Greek word “metanoia” which means a change of mind or heart.
On the issue of conversion or repentance, there is always a misconception of (I) being sorry for the consequences of sins and (II) being sorry for the sins. Often, what we are sorry for or that leads us to a sort of repentance is the fear of the consequences of our sins and not the actual sin itself.
True repentance or conversion means that not only a Christian comes to be sorry for the consequences of his sin but to hate sin itself. That is to have a change of mind which means he or she who was in love with sin comes to hate sin because of its exceeding sinfulness.
Finally, the word “euaggelion” in Greek means good news, from which we got our gospel through the New Testament we can see at least something of its content. The good news that Jesus came to bring to men and women signifies many things:
(a) It is the good news of truth (Galatians 2:5; Colossians 1:5). Until Jesus came, men could only guess and grope after God.
(b) It is the good news of hope (Colossians 1:23). The ancient world was pessimistic. In their struggle for goodness men were often defeated. The coming of Jesus brings hope to the hopeless heart.
(c) It is the good news of peace (Ephesians 6:15). The penalty of being a man is to have a split personality. In human nature, the beast and the angel are strangely intermingled. The coming of Jesus unifies that disintegrated personality into one. He finds victory over his warring self by being conquered by Jesus Christ.
(d) It is the good news of God’s promise (Ephesians 3:6). It is true to say that men had always thought rather of a God of threats than a God of promises. All non-Christian religions think of a demanding God; only Christianity tells of a God who is more ready to give than we are to ask.
(e) It is the good news of immortality (2 Timothy 1:10). To the pagan, life was the road to death; a man was characteristically a dying man, but Jesus came with the good news that we are on the way to life rather than death.
(f) It is the good news of salvation (Ephesians 1:13). That salvation is not merely a negative thing; it is also positive. It is not simply liberation from the penalty and escapes from past sin; it is the power to live life victoriously and to conquer sin. The message of Jesus is good news indeed.
The second part of the gospel of today has a connection to the first part. Jesus’ project of establishing the kingdom of God among men and women is not a one-man enterprise but a communal and mutual project. All hands must be on the deck for its propagation and extension to every corner of the globe.
In that way, his first line of action is to choose the men who will help propagate or extend this salvific project. Jesus invited Simon, Andrew, James, and John to join him and help in his preaching and healing ministry. This they accepted whole-hearted and promptly without hesitation.
It is naturally of the greatest interest to study the men whom Jesus picked out as his first followers.
1. They were very simple men.| they were not academics, ecclesiastics, aristocrats, or wealthy people. They are just “common” or ordinary people whom God in his infinite wisdom chose to change the world.
2. They were not idle or lazy men. They had a profession, a life and a passion to serve men. Hence, the phrase I will make you fishers of men. God uses our human passions to build up his kingdom project. Grace never works in a vacuum but builds on nature.
3. They were men of disposition and instinct to be able to fish well and safely. As such, when they heard Christ invitation “follow me”, they instinctively left everything to follow him.
4. They are men of labour and task as well as men of a great patient to see the fruitfulness of their labour. God taps into our highest quality or greatest virtue to bring about total transformation in us and the world.
The Christian vocation whether in marriage, consecrated or single life is a life of grace. A life of constant struggle to do the will of God above our will and its inclinations. Therefore, there is always the need for renewal, reformation, and repentance. There can be no authentic Christian witnessing and vocational testimony without metanoia: the constant change of mind or heart to do God´s will.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, You call us to repent and believe in the good news. As well as call us to a collaborative ministry with you and for you. Help us to realize always the need to renew our Christian commitment and to do so within your grace, goodness and mercy. Amen
