Homily Cycle B Offered at OLPH 1/21/2024.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012124.cfm
As we began Mass, Fr. Marty prayed to God, “... direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works....”
This story is called Chosen Early, maybe some of us can relate to it. It is about the childhood pain of being chosen last for a baseball team. All the favorites are chosen, “the captains are down to their last grudging choices: a slow kid for catcher, someone to stick out in right field where nobody hits it. They choose the last ones two at a time … ‘If I take him, then you gotta take him,’ they say.” Just once, we would like to be chosen first. Just once, we would like to avoid the agony of waiting & waiting until everyone else has been selected. Just once, we would like to hear our name called with enthusiasm and excitement. [Proclaim Parish Publishing Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days, p. 181].
Well, each one of us was CHOSEN First - when we were Baptized. We are so valuable to God, He sent His Son to choose you and me, Jesus chose each one of us enthusiastically and with great Love. Called to know and love God so we can share the Good News with each person we meet. And that Message today can be summarized this way: Chosen, Good News, Believe and Repent.
The Good News is we have been Chosen, to Believe, to Repent, to Live our lives in the promise of Jesus. A life of hope and peace, St. Paul tells [the Corinthians] us “For the world in its present form is passing away.” He, also, teaches us “Do not conform your selves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
Jonah was called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and announce God’s message of Repentance. What you would do if God called you to go to Russia and Ukraine, or to Gaza and Israel, or to Africa where there are 35 armed conflicts or into our cities and towns to announce a message of repentance? Today's we are reminded to Repent, to make sure God is first in our lives, our actions, our words, to review what kind of our Disciple we are committed to being!
Let me share another story w/ you, “Where is God”? A couple had two sons, ages 8 and 10, who were very mischievous, and the parents knew that if any misconduct occurred in their town, their boys were probably involved.
The boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town was successful in dealing with children, she asked him to speak to her boys. He agreed but asked to see them individually. Mom sent her 8-year-old in the morning, the older boy in the afternoon.
The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?" The boy's mouth opened, but he made no response; so, the clergyman raised his voice & shook his finger and bellowed, "Where is God?" The boy bolted from the room, ran home slamming the door behind him and dove into his closet.
When his older brother found him, he said, "What happened?" The younger brother said "We're in Big trouble this time. God is missing, and they think we did it!"
You and I know that God is not missing, He is busy calling us personally, the way He called Jonah, Paul, Simon, Andrew, James and John. Christ calls fisherman, doctors, cooks, teachers, students, clergy, bankers; He calls each one of us. We are called to live and share the Gospel Message in our world, for our families, our friends and ourselves.
We live in turbulent and unsettled times, Jesus has given us the Good News to guide our lives toward eternal life as we share His Gospel Message to share. Think about our Responsorial psalm, “Teach me your ways, O Lord…. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.” [Psalm 25]
Spend a few minutes reflecting on How will you answer Jesus’ Call, the God who is your Savior?
May God Be Praised!
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