Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:28-29). The Lord invites us to find peace and joy in Him this Sabbath as we set aside time to worship and rest.
PREPARE
“Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God.”
Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which literally means “to stop.” Keeping holy the Sabbath is not just a commandment, but an invitation. An invitation from the Lord to stop our work, stop our worrying, stop our striving. An opportunity to fid rest and to be renewed. A chance to refocus on the things that truly matter - the Lord, family, community. In our culture, Sunday has become a day to “catch up” on everything that didn’t get done during the week, and any time left over is often seen as an opportunity just to “get ahead” for next week. But we Christians have a chance now to remember what it means to keep the Sabbath. During this pandemic the Lord is calling us back to Himself, offering us a chance to reclaim the gift of the Sabbath, reminding us again what it means to “keep it holy.”
A basic principle for observing the Sabbath is only to do things that can be considered “rest” or “worship”. Here are a few ideas to consider to begin more to enter into the Sabbath. Maybe pick just one thing to focus on this Sunday, then next Sunday keep that practice in addition to a second one. And then the next Sunday add a third, to slowly over time begin to enter into this great gift of the Sabbath more and more.
Keep the Lord at the center - read the Mass readings ahead of time, participate in Mass, make more time for prayer, spend some extra time in silence focusing on the Lord
Try not to work - resist the urge to check your email, or catch up on a few things, and leave it for Monday
Plan ahead - take care of what needs to be done before Sunday, so plan the rest of your week to make sure you get the laundry done, have gone grocery shopping, etc.so you don’t have to do any of it on Sunday
Spend the day “screen free” - try to stay off social media, internet news, and your phone as much as possible. If you can’t make it the whole day try to go for at least a few hours
Be intentional with others - if you live with others (ie. family, roommates), is there something you can do together like play a game or go on a hike? If you live alone, can you reach out to a good friend and catch up?
Leisure, not entertainment - try to do things that are life giving; binge-watching a favorite show or playing video games for hours rarely leaves anyone with a new zeal for life. Read a good book, go on a long walk, develop a hobby.
PARTICIPATE
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Each Sunday we are called to “keep holy the Sabbath” and although that may look different for right now we will still come together as a St. Ann community through the gift of technology.
MASS READINGS
GIVING
Take a few minutes to give to St. Ann Parish. Please give generously and sacrificially as an act of faith during these difficult times. You can give online:
After giving, offer ways to be generous of your whole self during this trying time for our world.
“Each must do as already determined without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.”
PROCESS
“The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand… Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:15, 17)
When we begin to read scripture it can be quite confusing. It is appropriate to take some time to look at the big picture of what the Bible is all about, especially on this ‘Word of God’ Sunday which Pope Francis has set aside as “a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God, so as to appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people” (Pope Francis, Motu Proprio instituting the Sunday of the Word of God, Aperuit Illis). Perhaps some of you have begun the new year trying to read Scripture and have started with Genesis. It is interesting how when reading the first chapters we can see a microcosm of the whole scripture laid out for us. Everything that happens seems to echo those first few opening moments of creation. When we get to the Gospels we see how Jesus, by his words and actions, makes present again this creative activity from Genesis, bringing about the new creation. St. Ephrem the Syrian tells us, “Take note, therefore, of how His [creative] activity is mixed with everything” (Commentary on the Diatessaron).
In our Gospel today, we see the signs of this new genesis, the re-creation which the Messiah brings. Jesus, after His baptism and the forty days in the wilderness, now comes forth as the Word of God who speaks the Gospel. Jesus, in His person, is the “Gospel of God” (Mark 1:14), the truly good news which God has to share with us. The truth is real; it is a person, and He has come near to us, “at hand” in Christ Jesus. Our days are not a meaningless succession of moments, one to the next, but are filled with His overflowing love in the person of Jesus. “This is the time of fulfillment” (Mk 1:15). He has stepped within the radius of our touch.
We hear at the beginning of the book of Genesis how “the Spirit of God”, “a mighty wind,” swept over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). We notice Jesus Himself sweeping by “the sea of Galilee”, where He sees “Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea” (Mark 1:16). His voice sweeps over the face of the waters to the brothers. His is a creative word; He speaks a new reality into being: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17), hearkening back to when God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea” (Genesis 1:26). Jesus wants Simon and Andrew to be like Himself and participate with Him as a “fisher of men,” and in response, they “immediately abandoned their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18). Jesus takes them out of their nets and sets them free to follow Him, where they no longer had to worry about catching their food because they now follow the “bread of life”.
Just a little further and Jesus sees “James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John… in a boat mending their nets.” (Mark 1:19). Their response is similar in that they leave their livelihood and even the one who gave them life, “their father Zebedee… and followed Him” (Mark 1:20). St. Jerome, in one of his homilies, makes the point that “They left the father of the flesh to follow the Father of the spirit. They did not leave a father; they found a father” (Homily 83). This line of truth is cast throughout the entire scene as well as all the Gospels. Jesus never simply takes away but helps us ‘reel in’ something more substantial. He does not take away the skill of Simon and Andrew when they “drop their nets” to follow Jesus. Rather, He imbues them with a more comprehensive realization of what they were already. Jesus does not take away the family of James and John; He gives them family in an even fuller sense. As St. Cyril of Alexandria writes, “the truth hardly destroys its images; rather it makes them clearer” (Commentary on Romans). Jesus, the truth, does not take away what we are, but re-creates it by His Word.
PRACTICE
Pope Francis declared this Third Sunday of Ordinary Time to be ‘Word of God Sunday’ so we could “appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people” (Pope Francis, Aperuit Illis). It can be hard to feel that the Word of God is relevant to our daily life today, since the books in the Bible were written thousands of years ago. But just as God spoke back then, He desires to speak directly to you through his Word! This Sunday is the perfect time to pick one way to renew and deepen your relationship with the Bible.
There are so many ways you can do this! You could consider joining a Bible study, where you dive into the scriptures with other people and with the help of a guidebook. You could join a Foundations group since the Foundations course has a section dedicated to helping us understand the basics of the Bible and how to pray with Scripture. Or consider inviting someone to listen with you to “The Bible in a Year” podcast, in which Fr. Mike Schmitz reads through the Bible and breaks open the word every day for a year. Or perhaps you can display the Bible in a prominent place in your home to remind yourself of the importance of God’s word in your life.
Our practice this week is: pick one way to “appreciate the inexhaustible riches” found in the Bible. Consider your daily life, your current relationship with the Word of God, and what could most help you dive into Scripture.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Think about how you can continue to reflect on God’s word to you this week, and how you can invite others into the conversation. You can use the questions below for personal reflection, or to grow with others. Be creative! You could consider gathering with friends and family, or starting a group text, or a group FaceTime, to discuss the questions below.
What stands out to you from the readings this week? What might God be speaking to you at this time?
Were you able to invite someone to something? If so, what was that experience like? If not, what prevented you from inviting someone?
Have you ever seen someone proclaiming the end of the world, like Jonah proclaimed the end of Nineveh?
How often you do think about the fact that “the world in its present form is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31)? What thoughts or feelings does this stir up within you?
“Then they abandoned their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:20). What would it be like to “drop your nets” and follow Jesus? Have you asked God for the grace you need to continue to follow him?
We see two instances where people respond quickly to the word of God this Sunday: the Ninevites quickly repent when God, through Jonah, tells them to and the fishermen immediately follow Jesus when he says “Come.” Do you respond with such promptness to God’s call? To what do you respond promptly? How could you respond more promptly to God’s call?
What one way will you “appreciate the inexhaustible riches” found in the Bible?
KIDS
ACTIVITY
Get a piece of paper and pencil then have a child stand with one foot on the piece of paper. Trace their foot then have them decorate it. Have them write “I will follow Jesus” on the top of the page.
CONNECTION
In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites his first disciples to follow Him. Simon, Andrew, James, and John drop everything to follow Jesus. These men would help lead others to Jesus and help spread His love wherever they will go. Jesus calls us to follow Him in the same way too- to drop everything that might be holding us back from loving Him and others around us.
PRACTICE
Jesus calls us to follow Him too and one way we can do that is by reading our Bible. Pick one of these verses and read it in the Bible then try and memorize it this week. Write it somewhere where you will see it everyday to help you learn it. Here are 3 different Bible verses: John 3:16, Philippians 4:13, or Deuteronomy 31:6
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How did the lives of the four fishermen change?
What do you think it means to be “fishers of people”?
Jesus calls these men to give up everything to follow Him. Is there anything that you need to give up to help you follow Jesus better?
Jesus chose 12 apostles. They traveled with Him, learned from Him, and then would help spread Jesus’ message after his Resurrection. Can you remember some of their names? (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, (another) James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas)