The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the nature of the preformation that opens us to respond to Jesus' call in this changing world.
Time moves on
The reading from the Book of Jonah describes the surprise conversion of Nineveh.
* [3:7–8] Fasting and wearing sackcloth are signs of human repentance; here they are legislated even for the animals—a humorous touch, perhaps anticipating 4:11.1
Psalm 25 is a prayer for guidance and for deliverance.
* [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides.2
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians expresses his concern that the present form of this world is passing away.
* [7:29–31] The world…is passing away: Paul advises Christians to go about the ordinary activities of life in a manner different from those who are totally immersed in them and unaware of their transitoriness.3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins the Galilean Ministry and calls the First Disciples.
* [1:14–15] After John had been arrested: in the plan of God, Jesus was not to proclaim the good news of salvation prior to the termination of the Baptist’s active mission. Galilee: in the Marcan account, scene of the major part of Jesus’ public ministry before his arrest and condemnation. The gospel of God: not only the good news from God but about God at work in Jesus Christ. This is the time of fulfillment: i.e., of God’s promises. The kingdom of God…Repent: see note on Mt 3:2.4
Gladyce Janky notes that Saint. Ignatius Loyola would call Simon, Andrew, James, and John's immediate choice an election of the first kind. "When God our Lord so moves and attracts the will that without doubting or being able to doubt, such a dedicated soul follows what is shown, just as St. Paul and St. Matthew did when they followed Christ the Lord" (Sp. Ex. No. 175). An election of the first kind looks spontaneous, but without some prior event(s) to stir an awakening of the soul; we cannot hear our call. What had prepared the future disciples to respond?
God invites us to move into a deeper relationship that includes the promise that God will never abandon us. The invitation does not end the uncertainty or hardships of life, but as our trust grows, so does our ability to see God in all things and accept the world as it is – we become more of our true selves. We grow into a person that is ready to set the world on fire. How might we prepare for God’s invitation? Invitation: Sit quietly with God, plumb the depths of our soul, and lift to God our deep longings. How does God respond? "Your ways, O Lord, make known to me, teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior" (Psalm 25: 4-5)5
Don Schwager quotes “Common people on an uncommon mission,” by Eusebius of Caesarea (260/263-340 AD).
"Reflect on the nature and grandeur of the one Almighty God who could associate himself with the poor of the lowly fisherman's class. To use them to carry out God's mission baffles all rationality. For having conceived the intention, which no one ever before had done, of spreading his own commands and teachings to all nations, and of revealing himself as the teacher of the religion of the one Almighty God to all humanity, he thought good to use the most unsophisticated and common people as ministers of his own design. Maybe God just wanted to work in the most unlikely way. For how could inarticulate folk be made able to teach, even if they were appointed teachers to only one person, much less to a multitude? How should those who were themselves without education instruct the nations?... When he had thus called them as his followers, he breathed into them his divine power, and filled them with strength and courage. As God himself he spoke God's true word to them in his own way, enabling them to do great wonders, and made them pursuers of rational and thinking souls, by empowering them to come after him, saying: 'Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people' (Mark 1:17, Matthew 4:19). With this empowerment God sent them forth to be workers and teachers of holiness to all the nations, declaring them heralds of his own teaching." (excerpt from PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 3.7)6
Friar Jude Winkler shares the desire of Jonah that God punish Nineveh for cruelty to the tribes of Israel. Paul seems almost frantic about the imminent end of the earth. Friar Jude reminds us that God transforms our talents and weaknesses for service in the Kingdom.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that just as the body needs food, so the soul needs meaning, and the spirit needs ultimate meaning. Often that meaning is communicated through story. The function of all mythologies, religion, and even family lore is to help us situate ourselves inside of a safe and meaningful universe.
The image used by Fr. Richard in numerous books, and first learned from Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926‒2016), to describe this “Cosmic Egg” is that of three overlapping domes.7
Fr Richard concludes that we have to listen to our own experience, to our own failures, to our own sin, to our own gifts and calls. Plus, we have to recognize that we’re a part of history, a part of a culture, a religious group, a nationality, a gender, for good and for bad. When all three domes of meaning are deemed worthy of love and attention, we probably have a rather mature spiritual person. The preparation for our response and transformation is already done. Let us be open to the call for change.
References
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