Let us bring our thanksgiving to God who has saved us through the coming of His only begotten Son and who never fails to give us series of opportunities to do what He requires. God has endowed us with freewill and choice, what we do with it depends on us, it is in our interest that we submit ourselves entirely to God, it is only through Him we can enjoy true peace. We ask God through Christ to shed His light on our ways so that we will never wander too far from Him.
Our first reading brings to fore the fulfillment of God’s word concerning Nineveh. After Jonah's revival from the ordeal in the belly of a big fish, God gives him a second chance to fulfill his mission. This time round, Jonah rises, goes to Nineveh and preaches: “Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed”; this message so attracted deep interest and offers hope to the people that the entire Assyrian (pagan) city believe, proclaim a fast and put on sackcloth. Thus, the people are saved from the punishment their sins had deserved. God is indeed merciful.
In the second reading St Paul addresses the Christian community living in a relatively prosperous Corinth to detach themselves from the things of the passing world. He stresses that the present conditions of the world (relationships, emotions, possessions, etc.) are not to last long and that our participation in them is so short-lived that it should not become our preoccupation. Rather, we must keep an inner distance to these by using them to further God's kingdom.
The Gospel ushers Jesus' ministry a new beginning in the kingdom of God; A call to repentance and belief in God. Today he walks by the seashore, calls two brothers who are fishermen, Andrew and Simon, to follow, saying, “...I will make you fishers of men." Prompted by these heavenly words, the pair leave their nets and follow him. He also calls two other brothers, James and John, who without any hesitation left everything to follow him. If you were the parents of these brothers, what would have been your reaction? The call of Jesus is urgent, it is a call to repentance, a call for one to place oneself on the path to eternity. It is needful that we be mindful of the ways of the Lord. The responsorial psalm is a prayer for us to grow in the ways of the Lord: “O Lord make me know your ways. Teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation”.
God is ever calling us to get into a closer relationship with Him through turning away from our sins and living for Him. Conversion is ongoing. We live in a world with many attractions trying to turn our minds away from God. We must resist these attractions and embrace the call of God which is ever urgent.
At the time of Jonah, Nineveh was a relatively developed ancient city, but there was too much evil in it and everyone was waiting for them to be punished, but the merciful God saw the need for them to be saved. Though Jonah ran away at first, God still found a way of bringing him back to the mission. The sea signified the abode of the evil one, and so the significance of the call of the disciples to follow and be fishers of men is that, there were many who were overwhelmed and swimming in evil and they needed to be freed and brought into the kingdom of God. Thus, these men were called to save such people. This call was so urgent that Simon and Andrew couldn't wait enough to draw the fish, and the sons of Zebedee instantly had to leave all that they possessed in order to follow Christ.
How do you and I respond to the call of God? Today the call of God is for us to repent so that we be available to save others. Many a time, when the voice of God calls, we desire to leave our nets and follow, but we have many excuses. We see the things that need change in our lives, but somehow we deceive and convince ourselves that it is not yet time, and we postpone it to the future time and so a day passes, then a week, month and a year until we forget all about it and the change never comes.
Some of us feel our job, relationship, wealth, power and position offer us enough security and not until calamity strikes, will we go to church, seek the face of God in prayer, read Scriptures, or do good.
Many of our young ones are going astray today because we have failed woefully in the responsibility God entrusted us with, to bring them to Him. They are yearning to find meaning in the things they hear or read, unfortunately we are too preoccupied to evangelize them. Indeed, God has called us to high places, and our positive response is good not only for us, but also to many people out there imprisoned by evil circumstances. For many of us our God-assigned roles in the family, church, workplace, etc. like Nineveh, looks too laborious, demanding, unrewarding, and unattractive and so we are constantly running away from them though God never stops bringing us back...but if today, you hear his voice harden not your heart.
Jesus has called each and every one of us, He has put His Spirit in us, He has given us his power, He has put His words in our heart, but He cannot force us, He cannot open the door to our heart without our will, the key to the door of our heart/soul can only be opened from inside, no one can open it without our permission. We must do what Jonah did, we must do what the Apostles did, if we can take the risk, Jesus will do for us what he did for them. Our daily prayer should be, “Jesus, show us how to open the doors of our hearts and soul so that you can come in.”
