III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
January 22, 2023 – Isaiah 8:23-9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13:17; Matthew 4:12-23

Today’s Scripture readings teach us that. Christ brought us from the darkness of sin to the Light of God (4:16) by calling us to repentance (4:17) and acceptance of God’s will for us about us. The first reading contains the prophetic reference
to Christ as the Light that dispels the darkness. Matthew, by reporting in his Gospel the words of Isaiah, wanted his readers to recognize that the Light, of which the prophet spoke, had finally appeared with the coming of Jesus. The refrain of today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps.27) makes us sing, “The Lord is my light and my salvation” and reminds us that with Him, “defense of our life,” we need not fear any power or earthly threat.

In the second reading, Paul advises the Corinthians to live as children of the Light, avoiding divisions and rivalries. Several factions had, in fact, arisen among the Corinthians that threatened to splinter the community as each claimed allegiance to its first teacher or to a particular Apostle.In the Gospel (Mt 4:12-23) we see in Jesus the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. With his mission and with his disciples Jesus brings Light to peoples living in darkness, restoring and fulfilling God’s original promise. His luminous presence arouses a great interest in the lives of the people of Capernaum and the neighboring towns of Zabulon and Nephtali because he brought healing and deliverance. John the Baptist had just been arrested, a fearful and disturbing event that, instead of frighten and make Jesus cautious, brings him out of the closet to continue his mission of John. He leaves his family, home, work and Nazareth to live in Capernaum, takes nothing with him, he starts over where John had stopped preaching and proclaiming:”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” These are the opening words of the Gospel, generative of everything else.

Repent
We interpret this word as “repent,” whereas it is the invitation to revolutionize life, to change logic, to move in another direction. It is the offer of an opportunity: come with me, this way the sky is bluer, the sun warmer, people are better and healthier, life truer.
And immediately he adds the reason, the reason for conversion: “The kingdom has come near.” What is the kingdom of heaven, or of God? It is life flourishing in all its forms, an offering of sunshine. The kingdom is God’s, but it is for people, for a new architecture of the world and human relations, for an earth as God dreams it. This kingdom has become close. It is as if Jesus is saying, keep your eyes wide open because something very important has happened: Go toward the light, because the light is already here. God is here, like a force now circulating, not standing still, like a leaven, a seed, a leaven.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17). This is the basis of all his talk: telling us that the kingdom of heaven is near. What does this mean? The kingdom of heaven means the kingdom of God, that is, his way of reigning, of standing with us. Now, Jesus tells us
that the kingdom of heaven is near, that God is near. Here is the novelty, the first message: God is not far away, He who inhabits the heavens came down to earth, became man, removed barriers, zeroed distances. We did not deserve it: He descended, He came down to meet us. And this closeness of God to His people is from always, from the beginning, we find it even in the Old Testament where He said to the people, “What great nation has godliness so near itself, as the Lord your God?” (Deut. 4:7). And this closeness was made flesh in Jesus. (Pope Francis)
Light in the darkness
Matthew tells us that the people, to whom Jesus preaches, live in darkness, but that his mission brings them great Light. The area was called the “Galilee of the Gentiles” because there was a large population of Hellenistic pagans mixed with Jews who had only recently begun to resettle in a land devastated by previous wars. As a Jew in Roman-controlled territory, Jesus places himself with the marginalized, with the poor not the rich, with rural peasants not the urban elite, with the ruled not the rulers, with the powerless and exploited not the powerful, with those who resisted imperial demands rather than those who enforced them. Thus begins his mission to the seemingly small and insignificant places and people who, nevertheless, are fundamental to God’s purposes. We too must introduce the Light of Christ into the darkness of prejudice, war, abuse, social injustice, hunger, poverty, ignorance, greed, anger, revenge and apathy. We should seek and walk in God’s light to give the good news. God’s light breaks our yoke, shows us the way, erases our doubts and fears and increases our confidence in God and also in ourselves.
The Gospel ends with the call of the four fishermen and the promise, “I will make you fishers of men.” With what, with what net will they fish for men?
Someone has a beautiful thing to tell you, so beautiful that it seems unbelievable, so fascinating that the fishermen are seduced by it, they drop everything, like those who find treasure. The beautiful news is this: happiness is possible and near. And the Gospel holds the key to it. And the key is this: our infinite sadness is cured only by infinite love (Evangelii Gaudium).
For good workers…
– The conclusion of today’s passage is a fascinating summary of Jesus’ life: he walked and proclaimed the good news, he walked and healed.
Jesus walks with us, people from ordinary lives, and shows with his every gesture God’s love for us.
And this is the only thing that heals life, God is with us, with love.
– Jesus comes into our lives almost in passing, in the moments we don’t expect and, if we are not careful, we might not even notice. But when we recognize him, he calls us to follow him, to be disciples, follow him. What we are getting into, we may not realize yet, but that is definitely unimportant.
P JOBY KAVUNGAL RCJ