When everything seems finished,
it is time to begin again!
Year A – Ordinary Time – 3rd Sunday
Sunday of the Word of God
Matthew 4:12–23:
“When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, by the sea…
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ As he walked along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers [Peter and Andrew]… and he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers [James and John]… and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.”
Today we begin the reading of the Gospel according to Matthew, which will accompany us for more than thirty Sundays (except during the seasons of Lent and Easter).
The Gospel passage for this Sunday recounts the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Today he steps onto the public stage! Everything that happened before — the baptism and the stay in the desert — was only a prelude. Let us see how this departure takes place.
Crisis and discernment
Everything begins with a dramatic event: the arrest of John, a moment of crisis also for Jesus. John was a friend and a point of reference. His disappearance from the scene must have left his disciples bewildered. “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” It sounds like a retreat. He leaves Judea and withdraws to his home region. This setback becomes a decisive moment of discernment. Jesus senses that the movement begun by John must not disappear. Someone has to carry it forward. Jesus feels addressed by the Father: his time has come; now it is his turn. And so Jesus steps forward openly: “He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, by the sea.” And thus, when everything seemed finished, everything begins again!
We often think that Jesus knew everything in advance, that everything was clear to him from the start: his identity, his mission, the steps to take, the timing… Some even believe that, already in his mother’s womb, Jesus was conscious of being the Son of God. But this would be to ignore the Incarnation. Jesus, like each one of us, “grew” (Luke 2:40). At his baptism he becomes aware of being the Son of God; in the desert he reflects on his messianic mission…
We are here in the unfathomable mystery of Jesus’ self-awareness, which is nevertheless inseparable from the mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus too had to pass through doubts, uncertainties, reflection on events, and prayer in order to discern the will of the Father. “He himself was tested in every way as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Human like us, he had to learn, even in a dramatic way: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).
Walking, the condition of the Christian
In today’s Gospel, the importance given to verbs of movement is striking. They appear no fewer than nine times. Walking becomes the modus vivendi of Jesus and of his disciples, that is, of those who follow him. Jesus leaves his village, Nazareth, and goes to live in Capernaum, choosing this town as the base of his mission. It is only the starting point, for immediately afterwards he begins to travel throughout Galilee, Palestine and the neighbouring regions. He will not stop again until his return to the Father who sent him. His dwelling place will be the road itself, to the point that he himself will become the Way (John 14:6).
The path opened by Jesus will be called “the Way”, and Christians will be known as “followers of the Way” (Acts 9:2). And from then on, everything happens on the move. Therefore, there is no condition more opposed to the Christian vocation than stopping, thinking that one has walked enough or, worse still, feeling that one has already arrived. A comfortable faith, taking refuge in the lair of its own securities — whether human or ecclesial — is a faith without breath, paralysed.
Where do we set out from? From where we are, from our “Galilee”, from our sphere of life, from our everyday reality, from the “Galilee of the nations”, a society drifting towards paganism. There the “great light” will be revealed (cf. first reading: Isaiah 8:23–9:3).
Where are we going? The goal is the “mountain of mission”, the final destination of the Gospel of Matthew (28:16–20). And the route? We do not know it. We only know that we must follow Jesus. Perhaps even he does not know it in advance. He too is guided by the Spirit and by the events of life. For him as well, the Wayfarer, there is no road already mapped out. By walking, the path opens up!… It may be a more uncertain journey, exposed to the unexpected, but we shall breathe in the taste of freedom and newness!
What equipment should we take? We will not need overfilled rucksacks. We need only the Word. The biblical expression chosen for the Sunday of the Word of God, which we celebrate today, is: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you” (Colossians 3:16). “Paul does not ask that the Word merely be heard or studied: he wants it to ‘dwell’, that is, to make a lasting home, to shape thoughts, guide desires and make the witness of the disciples credible” (from the presentation of the Message). Therefore, it is not enough to put the Bible in our rucksack. The Word must become flesh of our flesh, so that we can say with Paul: “Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
A wish:
May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind always be at your back,
may the sun shine warm upon your face,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand!
(Irish Blessing)
Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, mccj
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
