Sunday Preparation

January 24, 2021

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 (Repent and Believe)

Girardian Lectionary
'Sunday Connection" Scripture Commentary
RCL/Benziger Gospel Reflections

Question of the Week (Adults): What part of your life is Jesus calling you to change right now?

Question of the Week (Children): In what way do you think you can be a better follower of Jesus?
 

Catechism Connection

541 - Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God
1427 - Jesus calls to conversion

Saints This Week

January 25 Conversion of St. Paul
January 26 Saints Timothy and Titus
January 27 Saint Angela Merici
January 28 Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, patron of Catholic Schools, Colleges, Students
January 30 Saint Hyacintha of Mariscotti

The First Reading today is a brief extract from the Book of Jonah, the only time it appears in the Sunday Lectionary. The Book is very short (just four chapters) and also quite comical, and worth reading in full (see text on USCCB web site).

The book of Jonah is read on the highest of Jewish holy days, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement or repentance. It would seem to be a surprising choice for this solemn day, because it turns upside-down the usual expectations of religiously observant people: God’s chosen prophet does not repent, but the pagan city of Nineveh (“not to mention the many cattle”) does repent and turn to God.

The passage we hear today is from the middle of the story, in which both Nineveh and God repent. Here is a Jewish story in which it is not the Jews who repent and turn to God. The greatest sin for Jews is that of idolatry; and perhaps the most insidious form of idolatry for a Jew is to turn their own law against idolatry into an idol — thus, to fall into the “idolatry of anti-idolatry.” The story of Jonah reveals precisely this form of idolatry. Jonah, in resisting his call and then begrudging the results, has made an idol out of the law of anti-idolatry by presuming that he himself knows how it should be applied. The Ninevites, in Jonah’s eyes, are idolaters and thus undeserving of God’s grace. However, the Ninevites repent of their idolatry; Jonah never does.

Jonah suffers from self-righteousness and God seems to be seeking Jonah’s repentance from this malady. There are at least four attempts on God’s part.

1. The first is the call to Jonah to bring a message of repentance to those he looks down on from his pinnacle of self-righteousness. At first, Jonah won’t even comply, and flees in the opposite direction to God’s call. He is called to go to Nineveh, modern-day Mosul in Iraq, but he heads by ship for Tarshish, considered by Biblical scholars to be in Sardinia or Spain.
2. The second chance is when God rescues him from the belly of the fish. But even new life will not bring repentance, as Jonah carries out his mission only with great reluctance.
3. Third is God’s repentance against doing evil to Nineveh (3:10). God even goes so far as to model repentance for Jonah, and Jonah still won’t follow suit.
4. Fourth is God’s reproof to Jonah when he is sheltering under the gourd plant in Chapter 4. At story’s end, Jonah still has not repented.

Note that Jonah himself assumes God’s grace and mercy: “That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” (Jonah 4:2b) The story’s plot revolves not around God’s grace but around Jonah’s non-acceptance of that grace. He trusts in God’s mercy in theory, but is resentful to see it extended to the pagan Ninevites. Thus we can compare Jonah and his prayer to the one offered by the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and Publican (Luke 18:11-12), and his blindness to those who judge the man born blind (John 9). 

In the Gospel today, after his baptism, Jesus continues the work of John, proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. He called companions to aid him, the first Apostles. They make a radical break with the past, when they “leave their fathers” and follow Jesus instead. In a patriarchal society, where a son receives his identity and security from his father, this is indeed a radical break with the norms of Jewish society. The response of the disciples shows us a pattern we also should follow: first we hear the Word of God, then we respond, then we too become proclaimers of the Word.

Lesson ideas – Simon, Andrew, James and John responded right away to Jesus’ call. They had a lot of faith and trust in him. We are called to the same mission, to proclaim the word of God. Remember that the name of our Elementary Faith Development curriculum is, "Be My Disciples"!

The Bible and Morality – Biblical Roots of Christian Conduct

This is the title of a document was published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 2008. It presents a survey of both Old and New Testament, focusing on the moral teaching of divine revelation. The overarching theme is “divine gift and human response”. Read the entire whole document here.

1. The Gift of Creation (in the first chapters of Genesis and the Psalms)
   1. The moral responsibilities of human beings created in the image of God.
2. The Gift of the Covenant in the in the Old Testament, and the implied norms for human conduct.
   1. The Covenant with Noah and with all flesh
   2. The Covenant with Abraham, and the Gift of the Promised Land
   3. The Covenant with Moses, the Ten Commandments and the Legislative Codes.
3. The Moral Teaching of the Prophets and the Wisdom literature.
4. The New Covenant in Jesus Christ as God’s Final Gift and its Moral Implications.
   1. The Coming of God’s Kingdom.
   2. Jesus’ Preaching of The Kingdom of God in the Synoptic Gospels.
      1. The Beatitudes.
   3. The Moral Teaching of John’s Gospel
   4. The Moral Teaching in Paul’s letters
   5. The Moral teaching in other New Testament Epistles
   6. Christ as the Mediator of the New Covenant
   7. The Demands and Gifts of the New Covenant.
5. The Moral Implications of the Eucharist.
6. God’s Forgiveness, reflecting on both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
7. The realized Kingdom, the final goal of human striving.
8. Biblical Criteria for Moral Reflection.
   1. Conformity with the Biblical view of Human Nature
   2. Conformity with the Example of Jesus.

The class meets on Wednesdays, 7:15 PM to 8:45PM, via Zoom or phone.
Email Jim Hynes or call 919-928-2157 to participate.

A new weekly Bible Study to help parishioners prepare for a fruitful celebration of the Sunday Eucharist by studying prayerfully the Sunday Scriptures. This program will also draw on documents from Bishops, Popes and the Vatican on interpreting the Scriptures. It will focus upon “The Kerygma”, that is, the proclamation of the story of Jesus which leads people to conversion of heart and Intentional Discipleship.

Each meeting will include a 'Lectio Divina' on one of the readings, letting the Scriptures speak to our hearts,  and direct us in ways both spiritual and pastoral. It will also introduce week by week various different methods of studying the Scriptures, as taught in the following Magisterial documents, and to practice applying them to the Sunday Scriptures: 

• Dei Verbum                                                      Vatican II                                                          1963
• The Historicity of the Gospels                     Pontifical Biblical Commission                    1964
• The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church                                                      PBC         1993
• The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible          PBC          2002
• The Bible and Morality                                  Pontifical Biblical Commission                     2008
• Verbum Domini                                              Pope Benedict XVI                                           2010
• Preaching the Mystery of Faith                   US Conference of Catholic Bishops             2012
• Homiletic Directory                                       Congregation for Divine Worship                  2015

Participants will use 'At Home With the Word' which contains the Readings for every Sunday of the year. Copies available for $7.00

In-person classes are suspended until further notice. However, people may participate through Zoom on Wednesday at 7:15 PM. Email Jim Hynes if you wish to participate.

Scripture Resources for Catechists

• Opening the Word from FORMED online
• Seasonal Resources from Be My Disciples
• Cycle A, B and C Resources - from Loyola Press (2018-19 is Year C, The Gospel of Luke)
• Advent and Christmas Lectionary Meditations - Fr. James Alison
• Girardian Lectionary - comments and exegesis on the Sunday Scriptures
• Lesson Strategies from Be My Disciples
• Sunday Connection for this week from Loyola Press
• Finding God - the Online Catechists Helper from Loyola Press (log in required)
• Sunday Homilies - from St Andrew's
• Midweek Reflection (signup) - From Liturgical Publications
• The Text This Week - Lectionary, Scripture Study, Worship Links and Resources 
• Audio of Daily Mass Readings - from the USCCB
• Video Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings - from the USCCB