Fr. Roger J. Landry

Conversations with Consequences Podcast

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

January 23, 2021

 

To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below: 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/1.23.21_Landry_ConCon.m4a

 

The text that guided the homily is: 

* This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a joy to have a chance to ponder with you the consequential conversation God wants to have with us this Sunday. Last week we examined the type of growth in faith that is meant to happen in the life of every Christian. We did so, we can say, from the subjective perspective, from the experience of St. Andrew and St. John, passing from fascination and curiosity about Jesus, to the trust that characterizes following him as disciples, to the enthusiastic sharing of the faith that marks the apostolate. This Sunday we have a chance to examine the type of growth that is meant to characterize our Christian life from Jesus’ own perspective with the help of Jesus’ words and actions at the beginning of his public ministry. In Jesus’ inaugural 18-word homily (16 words in St. Mark’s Greek) and in his conversations with his first followers after, we see four different elements that are key for our spiritual growth. This is what Jesus had waited his entire hidden life in Nazareth to announce and do. It’s also what he, as God, had been waiting since the Fall to establish: “The time is fulfilled,” he said, “and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel!”

* Jesus announces first two essential facts: The first is, “The time is fulfilled.” Jesus proclaims an urgency. He says that the time of waiting is over. The time to act is now. The second fact is, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus declares that God’s kingdom is here. God’s presence is erupting, and the time to enter his kingdom, to share in his reign, is now. After the two facts, Jesus turns to four ways we’re supposed to respond to this reality. These are the four conditions for entering and living in his kingdom. These are the four ways we won’t waste the time God has given us but make the most of it. The first is “Repent.” The second is “Believe.” The third is “Follow.” And the fourth is “Fish.” Let’s examine each of these realities and ask ourselves whether we’ve heeded Jesus message

* The first is “repent.” In Greek, this word ismetanoete, which etymologically means a total revolution of our mind, of the way we look at things. It’s a call to conversion, to no longer think as everyone else thinks, to no longer do as everyone else does, but to put on the mind of God, to align our heart and our actions to him. It means to compare ourselves to God rather than to everyone else and to recognize we’re not yet living enough as the image and likeness of God. For some people this will mean a 180-degree turn. For others it might mean a 50-degree turn or a 10-degree turn. But all of us need this conversion and we will always need it. The Christian life is one of continual conversion, in which we literally learn how fully to “turn with” Jesus (con-vert) in all parts of our life. As he turns in prayer to the Father, we turn with him; as he turns with charity to our neighbor, we turn with him; as he turns with mercy to a family member who has sinned against him and against us, we, too turn with mercy. This call to continual metanoia means that we’re incessantly seeking to change for the better to become more and more like the Lord who calls us to that penance and renewal.

* The second word is “believe.” To believe means not just to accept somethingas true. To believe means totally to submit oneself to a reality on the basis of a trust in the one testifying to the reality. To believe means to entrust ourselves completely to Jes...