Jesus is the Good News of God in person. To take seriously this Good News means to have, for sure, life, bliss, salvation.

There are those, of course, who do not take seriously Jesus’ proclamation that the kingdom of God has come. They say that if it were true, things would not be the same. There would not be hunger, poverty, disease, violence, war, greed, exploitation, oppression, injustice.

Yes, the wrongs we see or hear about can lead us not to take seriously Jesus’ Good News of God.  But if this is how we react, it would mean we do not grasp at all the new thing he brings in. That is to say, the new way of being and living whose time has come. And that is why he now shows it to us by words and by works.

He wants us to know and take seriously that where he stays is on the cross. This means he is and lives in those who are persecuted. In those he calls the least of his brothers and sisters. A friend of mine puts it in this way: if the Lord is not with those who suffer in Gaza, he’s nowhere.

And it is not that Jesus takes pleasure in his and others’ pain and suffering. After all, his mission is to bring the Good News to those who are poor. And all the while, he heals the sick, too, comforts those in distress, eases the pain of those who suffer.

His struggle in the garden shows also that he does not like to suffer or die. And yet he is resigned to it and accepts the Father’s will. For he knows that the forces of evil, injustice, greed and tyranny will stop at nothing to stay in power.

Take seriously that to proclaim the Good News of God is to court conflicts (SV.EN I:75).

So then, Jesus on the cross is not a sadist or a masochist, but rather God’s love. The Crucified, who alone we should proclaim, shows us what it means to love like God. The man on the cross is in person the new way of being and living he wants us to make our own. He calls us to it. If we take it seriously, we will surely live, and not die we will have bliss rather than sorrow.

And so, are we, like Simon and Andrew, and James and John, willing to change the way we think and act? To try this new way? Can we also love like God, whose mercy knows no borders, as Jonah found out? Do we, besides, truly hail the sacred Host and let the newer rites rule? Can we at least stay at the foot of the cross (SV.EN I:155) if we cannot stay on the cross with Jesus? And should we not care that time is running out?

Lord Jesus, grant that we take seriously your call: “It is now the time. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Good News!”

21 January 2024 
3rd Sunday in O.T. (B) 
Jon 3, 1-5. 10; 1 Cor 7, 21-29; Mk 1, 14-20