Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
During my last visit to India, I had the most amazing experience. Perhaps you remember that last Lent, our parish raised funds for Mercy Home in my hometown in India. We were able to donate $15,000 for renovation and some new construction for the severely handicapped residents. I visited Mercy Home to see the progress they had made. I had barely stepped into the main campus building when out of nowhere there appeared the most angelic looking face. At first glance no one would think that three year old Sowmya was in need of special attention. And so it was only when she began to walk awkwardly toward me that I realized that she was a resident at Mercy Home. Slowly, she walked toward me, clasped my legs and for a moment just stood there motionless. I was taken aback. She had never seen me before. And then she gestured with her little fingers. It looked as if she was waving at me. The sister superior told me that she was asking me to bend down. As I did, she planted the gentlest kiss on my cheeks. A kiss has never felt more angelic. And then she whispered, “Eesho Mishiyaek stuthi aieyrekette.” into my ears. It translates, “To Jesus Christ be praise!” For a moment I froze in heavenly bliss. For me, this was not just an experience; it was a God-experience!
Let me put all of what I have said thus far into the context of today’s scripture. Did you notice that the names Zebulun and Naphtali occur in both the first and the gospel readings? Here is the story behind it. When the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, their kingdom was divided into twelve regions according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, the region of Zebulun and Naphtali belonged to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. When Isaiah, in today’s first reading says, “The Lord degraded the land of Zebulun of Naphtali,” (Is 8:23) he was referring the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom in 728 BC. Zebulun and Naphtali were the first regions to be destroyed and to experience darkness and anguish. Matthew picks up on this theme in today’s gospel reading by telling his readers that Jesus left Nazareth and went to Zebulun and Naphtali. In other words, Jesus began his ministry in the same regions where the people of God first experienced anguish and darkness. Matthew is not merely being symbolic, but rather, pointing to a real intervention of God in human history. Jesus, God in flesh, walked through the dark and anguished lives of human beings and he begins with precisely those regions where anguish and darkness began. Thus Matthew says, “…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen….” (Mt 4:16)
Let me offer three practical implications from today’s readings for us.
1. Where is God? On that day, Jesus did not wander into the region of Zebulun and Naphtali aimlessly. He was on a mission. The story of Jesus ministry begins with real places that had a history of sin, intrigue, infidelity, darkness and sadness. What happened at Zebulun and Naphtaili is telling of Christ’s presence in our lives today. Jesus continues to be present in the midst of our anguish and darkness. When I said my experience with three year old Sowmya was a God-experience, I really mean it. I went to Mercy Home the day before I left India to come back to Dayton. Part of me was already in the anguish of leaving home. The mood at home was already somber. And here came along a three-year-old-special-need-kid and planted the most tender kiss on my cheeks. There was something divine about it. That kiss was God’s assurance for me. On the reverse, whenever I visit Mercy Home, for them I symbolize Immaculate Conception parish and the way we have been God’s love to them. Again, just this Thursday, I was at Miami Valley Hospital administering the sacraments for the last time to Joe Marcheski. For Joe, for the family and for me, Jesus was truly there. God has a way to enter into our Zebuluns and Naphtalis and bring comfort, peace, freedom and assurance. I am not saying that we become free of human problems but that in the midst of our problems God continues to be really real in our lives.
2. The call. It is very interesting that Matthew follows his account of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus with the call of the disciples. Matthew has Jesus by the Sea of Galilee and he calls Andrew, Peter, James and John to follow him. The interesting thing is – they did. As if God was calling them (they did not know that Jesus was God at the time), they left ‘everything’ and followed him. I find this image so very powerful. Right here in this passage we get a glimpse of Christian discipleship. Before there was Christianity, before there were doctrines, before there was Mass and before there were seven sacraments there was discipleship. For me this has serious implications. Before I think of being a Christian (in the sense of a religion that is different from Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism), before I thank God for my priesthood, before I attempt to grapple with doctrines and religious obligations, I must be convinced of my discipleship. Religion first and foremost is about answering a call. At some point we must realize that we are Christians not simply because our family was Christian or because we were baptized as infants or because we went to Catholic schools. At some point there need to be a conscious, free, deliberate, and convinced DECISION to follow Jesus. At some point our Christianity, our Catholicism and our spirituality needs to come to recognize God’s call and our discipleship.
3. Today’s Zebuluns and Naphthalis. The significance of these places (Zebulun and Naphtali) is not merely symbolic. Today, they represent the anguish and darkness that pervades our world and society. Note that immediately after calling the Peter, Andrew, James and John, Jesus took them along with him and want about teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people (Mt 4:23). Be it at Mercy Home, in oppressed and exploited peoples, in nursing homes, in juvenile centers, in abortion clinics, in those on death row, in refugee camps, in prisons, in the lives of addicts, in starving population of the world, or in war torn regions – there is much anguish and darkness. Today’s readings challenge us to be the “light” that people in darkness and people in anguish will see. That is what Jesus did with the four disciples that accompanied him. Today, in the midst of the darkness and anguish in our own lives, God calls us to be light for somebody else who is in anguish and darkness of poverty, misery, ignorance, and sin. The answer to the Zebuluns and Naphtalis in us and around us is being disciples of Jesus.
Just like Jesus came to the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, he comes to us today in this Eucharist. Today, we are the people who sit in darkness and have seen a great light; we are those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death on whom light has arisen. As we receive Christ in communion, let us be in turn be light to those in anguish. Jesus sends us today like Peter, Andrew, James and John to be fishers of people. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph