The readings have urgency in them, the time of destruction is near, which leads into the Gospel where Jesus calls his disciples to spread the Good News. Jonah delivered a message of destruction to the people of Nineveh: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed”. Paul said that time is running out: “For the world in its present form is passing away.” The verse for the Alleluia today is: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
Mark continues with this urgent message. Jesus begins his ministry proclaiming the Gospel of God with a call to repent and believe. “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
From the start of his public ministry in Galilee, the Messiah looked for co-workers to help with his mission. Jesus knew that he would not find co-workers among the religious leaders. They were too corrupt and arrogant to endure the hardships of being a disciple of Christ. Jesus knew that he had to look for co-workers who were used to hard work, people who struggled and whose lifestyle was plain like his.
Jesus called to Simeon and his brother Andrew: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They abandoned their nets and followed him. The same story was repeated a short time later when Jesus called James and his brother John.
We often question why these brothers immediately left their boats, their families and their livelihood to follow someone who walked along the shore and called to them. How could they do this? What happened to their families? How did their families survive without them there to support them? This just doesn’t make sense to us today.
Dr. John Pilch provides some insight into the Mediterranean culture.
“It is highly likely that Jesus and the four followers he summons here are not strangers. If they have not personally met each other before this time, they were aware of each other’s aspirations and objectives. News travelled quickly in the ancient world thanks to gossip networks.
Gathering a following is a common occurrence in the Mediterranean world. Technically, a group that gathers for a specific purpose for a limited time is called a “coalition.” The coalition that Jesus gathers is technically called a “faction” because it focuses on a central person who holds and controls the loyalty of the group. Invariably, the faction leader has a grievance and gathers around him others who share the grievance.
What were the grievance and the aspirations, objectives, and hopes of the fishermen who joined Jesus’ faction? These are never spelled out. The facts, however, that Jesus was known as the son of an artisan and that these first four members of his group were fishermen make it probable that they found common cause in the oppressive difficulties of their daily lives. Such experiences would be the underpinning for Jesus’ broader project of proclaiming the reign of God, the authentic patron or father of Israel.
Jonah and Zebedee had to hire more day laborers to replace their sons who followed Jesus. They calculated that this short-term gamble might improve their lot if Jesus could deliver what he promised.”
But their fathers didn’t understand that the promise Jesus preached was of the heart. They didn’t understand that it was spiritual hope instead of physical relief from the life of hard work and the occupation of the Romans that they wanted. Jesus preached “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
We are called to be disciples; to believe in the Gospel! Believe is a verb. “Believe” requires action: repentance and then a faith that will change the way we live. John Paul II underlines the importance of conversion: “Therefore, the Church professes and proclaims conversion. Conversion to God always consists in discovering his mercy, that is, in discovering that love which is patient and kind as only the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the ‘God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ is faithful to the uttermost consequences in the history of his covenant with man: even to the Cross and to the death and resurrection of the Son. Conversion to God is always the fruit of the ‘rediscovery’ of this Father, who is rich in mercy.
Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus caused his conversion and changed his life forever. Paul turned from persecuting and having the new Christians killed to preaching that the Kingdom of God is at hand. That’s why there is urgency in all of Paul’s writings that we must prepare for the end time is near.
In the second reading, Paul writes that the world in its present form is passing away. He states that time is running out and calls for the Corinthians to change their lives and concentrate on what is right.
We, like the disciples and Paul, have heard Jesus’ message of repentance. We do not have to rely on the gossip network because we have the Gospels, Paul’s writings and all of the Church’s teachings and tradition to teach us.
Reginald Fuller wrote “The call of the disciples …. serves to illustrate what it means to repent and believe in the gospel. It does not mean to accept certain timeless truths but to be attached to the person of Jesus, to go along with him in his way — a way that will lead to the cross.” The way for us will probably not lead to a cross or our martyrdom, but in many parts of the world, particularly the Middle East and other Muslim countries, it would.
Jesus speaks to us today: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Will we completely attach ourselves to the person of Jesus? Or will we accept the truths of the ages and go through the motions of attending mass or just living a good life? Jesus offered hope to a broken world. Will we repent and then show that we believe in the Gospel by the way we live? Will we walk with Jesus in the way that he walks? Walking with Jesus may not lead to death for us but will we walk with him even if it leads to persecution? The Kingdom of God is at hand. Do we believe?
