Homily of Sunday, January 23, 2011 light of nations "When Jesus heard that the arrest of John the Baptist, he withdrew into Galilee."
is quite surprising. He who raised Lazarus, the lepers cleansed and healed the lame, he could bring down the prison and the release of John. Why did he not? Why he decided to flee Herod to go to Galilee, land of the heathen? These are simple questions in the style of those posed by children's category. The Gospels give us answers, they tell us that Jesus is "meek and humble of heart". He does not fight with the weapons of force, violence, hostility, like many in the monde.Il does not add hate hate. This is not a conqueror of territories, wealth or power. And if he begins his ministry in Galilee because it is God's plan announced by the prophets. A "light" rose to the Gentiles, the poor and small.
This gospel is joining us: after 20 centuries, it is the darkness that seems to dominate the world, those endless waves of hate crimes, genocide, dictatorships to dominate, crush and enjoy. We can ask ourselves the question: where is this kingdom of God as announced nearby? But when a disaster occurs is always the same question: where is your God? What is it?
The answer we find in the Gospels: With the son of God made man, crucified and risen, the Kingdom of God is near us now. The Kingdom of God is Jesus himself, sent by the Father. It is already there, he came to us. The fact remains that the Kingdom of God is yet to come. It is to welcome and live. It is a kingdom of love for everyone and it perfectly fulfilled in eternity. Meanwhile we are all called to convert and to stand firm in the tests. Christ assures us that evil will not have the last word.
This good new, Christ wants it to be announced worldwide. Wide program is beyond us! Yet now, in today's Gospel we see Jesus choose 4 males, 2 multiply by 2 brothers. They are not theologians, they know that
handling nets and collect fish. In our society today is not the way hiring is done, you need specialists, a job interview, we can prove. Jesus, himself, does the opposite: it is for modest men who have no eloquence to convince the crowds. This is where we need to hear again the call of Christ: "Repent!" Following Jesus involves sharing his fate, clings to his personne.L proclamation of the gospel is not primarily our business but his.
For this mission we are not alone, we are part of a large family: the Church. We are living stones. Christ wants us to be united around him because of divided Christians can not give a testimony cons.
In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we look together to the Lord our God with our fellow Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and others. This conversion is not achieved once and for all. We hear horror in cults, including from those who call themselves Catholics. Some think they have any truth to them and against all reason. During this week of the unit take the time to listen to those who do not think like us. And as the people of Galilee, let us be clear simply following Christ. It is with him that will build unity. With him we can testify of God's kingdom. He alone can lead us to the Father.
Father Maurice Dajczlinder .