A reflection from two texts: Jonah 3, 1 -5.10; Mk 1:14-20
The Word of God calls our attention about the need of
a change of life, because the time that is given to us is a time of grace
and conversion. This Word also speaks about the difference that
someone makes in the life of a people. As the prophet, we are called
to make the difference where we live. Then we will start our reflection
with the prophet Jonah.
The prophet Jonah, initially, tried to flee from
God, but he was reached and was unable to resist the divine enticements. When
God wants someone to his service, he doesn’t give up. Jonas seems the
kind of prophet who did not know God very well: first, because both he
thought that he could get away from God, and then he stayed unhappy
because God has used mercy to the city of Nineveh. He also had to make a
journey of conversion. It is necessary to bear in mind that no
prophet is the prophet by himself, but by a divine call, being
at disposal of the experience of the Word of God and proclaim what has
been entrusted to him, denouncing what damages the God’s plan. In
this text, the prophet goes to Nineveh, the great city, to announce a
divine punishment, but before this message, the Ninevites believed in God and
accepted to change their lives, contrary to the expectations of Jonah. Faith in
God, therefore, must necessarily be accompanied by a change in the way of
living. But it also happens because God had already being moved with pity, and
compassion motivates us to conversion. He wouldn’t have sent the prophet to
Nineveh unless had the intention of saving. This Jonas had to accept.
Nineveh, for being 'outside' from chosen
people, helps us to reflect about the universality of salvation offered by God;
the forty days mean the many opportunities that God provides for our conversion which,
in fact, reflects a certain insistence from his part. The insistence, without
forcing the freedom, is proper of his divine being. He is interested in us
because he loves us and knows that we need him. A psalm says that "The
anger of the Lord lasts only a moment, but his mercy endures the entire
life". Whatever our sins, much
greater is the mercy of God. Being a prophet is to do experience of this mercy and
to become merciful presence of God to other people. The prophet must be
convinced of this.
Now, our reference of prophetism is the life and
mission of Jesus, the prophet per excellence. After the baptism in the Jordan,
Jesus goes into the desert and from there to the Galilee. The concern of the
gospel of Mark is to respond to the question about who is Jesus? It says that Jesus begins
his mission proclaiming the Kingdom of God and inviting people to conversion,
that is, Jesus did not proclaim himself, he announces the Kingdom, but the time
of the Kingdom is inaugurated in his own person. The people need to open themselves
to this time through a change of mentality, from the Greek metanoia, which means conversion.
Before Jesus, John the Baptist has already invited to conversion; so, what's
the newness? John announced a time neared; Jesus announces a time that is complete.
John preached a kingdom that was coming; Jesus announces that the kingdom
is already present among us. John said: repent because of the wrath
of God; Jesus says: repent and believe in the gospel, I have come to save.
Believing in the gospel has a lot to do with the fulfilment of the messianic
promises: the faithfulness of God and adherence on the part of human
beings. It means to accept his Word and let our lives be
conformed to the values that it proposes.
According to Mark, Jesus shows very knowledgeable
of the reality: he walks with the people and sees what is happening with them.
He identifies himself and is interested in their lives; he feels compassion and
calls us to conversion. That is what happened with the first disciples. The
ancient Fathers of the Church said: "God only could be so human
as well". He involves himself with the lives of the people in order to
involve them in his project. In this perspective, the true conversion
happens only when we are willing to embrace the life’s project proposed by
Jesus. Following Jesus is not simply to leave the life before, but giving new
meaning to life which he lives. They were fishermen of fish and they continued
fishermen, but of people. The family’s affections are important, but they stay
in second place before the proclamation of the kingdom. We must, therefore, cultivate
the detachment and fidelity to the project of Jesus.
The following of Jesus gives quality and new meaning
to everything we do, including our relationships. The important thing is not
what we leave, but what we gain. The proposal of Jesus transforms our lives. We
cannot follow Jesus and remain of the same way, thinking and acting as before. The
radicalism that Jesus invites us today does not refer to leave everything
that we do and to abandon the people who are dearer to us, but to have a
different attitude before the life and the people in who he is present and
with who continues identifying himself, especially if they are suffering. It is
necessary to strip us of ourselves and of the mediocre way that we take our
lives. He asks radicalism in the practise of charity, eliminating any bias
against others. The kingdom of God only happens in fact wherever people have
learned to spend their lives for the good of others
without thinking in themselves.
Fr. Ndega
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