The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time:   20th /21st  January 2024

Dear parishioners,

SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD

This Sunday we are invited to listen, to believe and to follow the One who is the Word of God.

God wanted to be with us. He created us but He was not happy only with that, He decided to be with us. We have just celebrated at Christmas how He came to us and becoming a human being so that He could live among us. But not only that, He gave us His Word. A Word that is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). This word is His own Word, His own message, His own voice. Every week, every day we can hear God’s Word, alive and new, when we listen to the scripture in Mass, or when we read God’s word for ourselves. Today the Church wants to draw our attention to the Word with this celebration to help us to value and discover again how amazing this gift of God’s word is.

God wants to speak to us, wants to address a message to each one of us. This is what happened to Jonah, God spoke to him and gave him a mission (First reading): “The Word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah… Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of the Lord.” He has a mission for each one of us and so we need to listen carefully, we need to pay attention, the more we listen to His Word, discovering God’s personal message to us the more we will be able to understand that special and unique mission that is for me – for each one of us, and through that mission we will do good to many people, beyond what we can imagine! God has a dream for each of our lives and when we listen, believe, and follow His message we are helping God’s dreams to become true in this world.

In the Gospel (Mark 1) we see the first moment that Simon, Andrew, James, and John meet Jesus, and that they listen to and believe in Him. He had a new word for them, a Word that will not pass away (John 6:68) and they followed Him. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It is to listen to Him as our friend, teacher, older brother. We can follow many friends but not everyone will lead us on a path where we can give the best of ourselves and where we will give to our people something that will not pass away, something that is forever. What is the best message we can give to others?

Simon, Andrew, James, and John found their mission in life and thanks to them, and the fact that they faithfully transmitted what they received from Jesus, we have been able to meet Jesus and discover His Word. God has a plan for us, hopefully we too will become good listeners to His Word and will help others to know Him and to find Him in their life, giving them something that does not pass away.

Have a good week ahead, Anabel Gonzalez, FMVD