III SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: 21 January 2024

U-TURN TO GOD
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

Wabush, a town in remote Canada, was completely isolated for some time. Then workers cut a road through the wilderness to reach it; Wabush had only one road leading into it, and thus, only one road leading out. If someone were to travel to Wabush, there is only one way he/she could leave: by turning around.

There comes a moment in our lives when we realise we are in a town called “sin”. As in Wabush, there is only one way out. We must turn around or “repent”. This is the thrust of today’s liturgy.

In the first reading, God sends Jonah to call the people of Nineveh to repentance. After Jonah reluctantly carries out this mission, the Ninevites repent.

In the gospel, Jesus begins his mission by announcing: “The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the gospel!”

What is the “gospel”? It is the news found upon Jonah’s lips: God is gracious and compassionate to all, even to those who do not—in our assessment—deserve his grace and compassion.

What is repentance? The Greek for repent, metanoiein, means “to change one’s mind.” The Hebrew shûbh means to turn around 180 degrees, to reorient oneself toward God. 

The call of the disciples that follows illustrates that “repent and believe in the gospel” does not mean merely to accept certain truths but to be attached to the person of Jesus, to follow him on his way—a way that challenges injustice and discrimination, that includes all, that leads to suffering and the cross.

For some, like the Ninevites, repentance is a radical turnaround from evil to accept God’s compassion. For others, like the disciples, it is a turnaround from their way of doing things to doing what God wants them to do.

For me, what would a U-turn to God involve? What are the “boats and nets” I need to abandon to follow the Lord?

By: Fr Dr Mascarenhas Vinos SDB

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