WE ARE CALLED TO BE LIGHT BEARERS

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Isaiah 9:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.17, Matthew 4:12-23

 

Today, the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates Sunday of the Word of God. This celebration was instituted by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Aperuit illis issued September 30, 2019, for the purpose of rediscovering our love and zeal for the Lord through the deepening of our knowledge and understanding of the Sacred Scriptures.

Our gospel reading of today is the Matthean account of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. Matthew describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as the dawning of a great light on the people living in darkness and in the shadow of death (Matthew 4:15-16). Matthew quotes a passage from the prophecy of Isaiah, as a commentary on that moment when Jesus left his family in Nazareth and came to Capernaum by the shore of the Sea of Galilee to begin his ministry: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Isaiah 9:3-4).

According to the gospel passage, the first thing that Jesus did when he began his public ministry was to call the people to repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 4:17). This call to repentance is primarily a call to turn more fully towards him, the great light of God’s presence. It was a call to embrace the light. In our time, this call of Jesus continues to resound. All of us are called to hearken to the call of Jesus and to turn more fully towards the light. Turning towards the light will often entail turning away from various shades of darkness, that is, the ways of living that do not bring light or life to ourselves or to others. When we allow the light of God’s presence to be the leading in our life, then, we will not experience any form of darkness and division like the people of Corinth in the second reading (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).

Jesus, has come into the world as a great light, but he needs disciples through whom this light can continue to shine through the ages. That is why after coming into Galilee, Jesus called his first-four disciples to follow him. These were to be his light bearers in the world. They were to be the stained glass through which his light would shine. Today, we are those light bearers; we are the ones through whom Jesus wishes to shine his great light, the light of God’s love for all humanity. We may feel that we are not up to the task, that, in various ways, our lives are too broken and shattered to be of any use to the Lord. Yet, there is never a time that the Lord’s light cannot shine through us, as long as we are open to his presence and are generous in response to that presence, like Simon, Andrew, James and John (Matthew 4:18-22).

The gospel passage tells us that when Jesus called them, they abandoned everything (their father Zebedee, boat, nets) and followed Jesus. They considered the call to follow Jesus a greater priority. They did not allow anything (even their most valued profession, possessions and relationship) to come between them and that call. Today, Jesus is calling you to follow him. Are you ready to leave behind everything that will hinder you from carrying out the task of spreading the Good News? Are you ready lay down the differences you have with others so that the light of God from shining through us? May God help us to respond adequately to his call to be his light bearers.