The Power To Lead
Repent – a word that makes many people uncomfortable. From the story of Jonah to John the Baptist to Jesus and then St. Paul, repent seems to activate hidden feelings of guilt, casting out Satan and a variety of sins and evil.
Dear Brothers and Sisters
If you stand guilty before God or if sin plays a large role in your life, then just admit it. The word “repent” is not as bad as some TV evangelist make it sound. Actually “repent” means to change your mind and to turn. In German we say “Kehr um” which means turn around. It’s not simply to turn around but to turn from by turning to. And there are three ways we can turn: Turn to yourself, turn to Jesus, and turn to others.
Sunday Readings
In our First Reading (Jonah 3: 1-5, 10), we heard how Jonah responded to God’s calling. The first time God called him, he simply turned away. After an interesting time in the belly of a whale, God called him again. This time Jonah went to the great city of Nineveh where he preached God’s message and the people turned away from their sinful, evil ways.
In our Second Reading, Paul asked the Corinthians to remember that life is short and the world, as we know it is passing away. He preached a message of total detachment. There is nothing we have that lasts forever, nothing that can’t disappear (snap) just like that. After all, the things we collect and hold on to are just “things”. Paul tells the community in Corinth that time is running out.
Gospel of Mark
Our Gospel this evening begins at the start of Jesus’ ministry just after his baptism in the Jordan. John the Baptist was arrested because he had challenged the authorities about their behavior. Jesus took up where John left off: The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Does this ring a bell? Yes, on Ash Wednesday, on the start of Lent, you receive ashes and hear exactly these words.
Jesus' Ministry
The kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus’ ministry. This kingdom is not so much a place as it is a mind-set based on our attitude and our relationships. It’s one of turning to Jesus by turning to others. When he preached this “good news”, Jesus gave two very explicit instructions of what each person must do in order to receive the kingdom of God. Repent and believe. When we turn to Jesus, we give ourselves over to something, to someone greater than us. When we give Jesus the authority to rule our lives, when we believe the gospel message, we receive the grace and power to live a new life. A new life as citizens of his kingdom.
Repent
You know, it’s one thing to be sorry for our sins and wrong doings, but if that’s all we do, then we are likely to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. When we truly repent, truly change our direction and turn our hearts and mind set around then our life in the Kingdom can become reality. This starts with believing in Jesus, in his words and ministry. It begins when we take this image of God coming down and living among us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus calls us to follow him, today my friends, just like he did on that day as he passed by the Sea of Galilee. Simon and his brother Andrew didn’t just follow Jesus they abandoned what they were doing. So powerful were Jesus’ words: “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men” that James and John left their father and their business to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus
They probably didn’t have any idea where they were going or what the future held, but one thing was for sure: they had an enormous amount of trust in this man who seemed to come out of nowhere. So much that they were willing to leave the security of their worldly life to experience something completely out of this world. They went through many unexpected experiences, some of them joyful, some of them full of pain. But they became part of his mission, continuing a great movement that would bring people to a new way of living in truth, love, freedom and justice. Their experiences must have transcended all their dreams and expectations. And what’s amazing to me is that Jesus chose ordinary, very simple people. They were fishermen, with no great education, wealth or status in society. Jesus wanted common, ordinary people to go out and do extraordinary things. He chose them, not because of what they were capable of doing, but for what they were capable of becoming.
Living the Gospel
And this is where we come in. Jesus calls us to turn to him and follow his lead. He speaks the same message today as he did when he called those four fishermen. And when we turn to Jesus we will turn to others. We will “catch people” for the kingdom of God. And here is the beautiful thing my friends, we don’t need to abandon what we are doing, we don’t need to leave our business or family. When we turn to Jesus we let his light shine through us. And this is reflected in how we live, how we work, in what we say and how we treat others. But we do need to repent. We need to turn from our material life and turn to the words and ministry of Jesus. Live his words and turn to others.
The Power of Our Example
This past Wednesday my friends I watched, like millions of other people all around the world, the United States inaugurate Joe Biden to be their 46th presidential leader. After the events from two weeks earlier and beginning even before then, I felt a sense of pride. Pride in knowing that the people of the once strongest, most powerful nation in the world had elected a person who spoke of uniting and healing, while at the same time insisting that people are held accountable for their actions. His speech touched my heart. But what moved me the most was when he said, “We'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
Living the Gospel
Jesus’ message is a powerful message and he calls us to lead. He calls us – ordinary people- to be fishers of men and to lead others to Jesus by our example of the Christ, which dwells inside of us. As we prepare ourselves to meet Jesus in the Eucharist, let the power of this Blessed Sacrament manifest and empower us. Discover the kingdom of God. “This is the time of fulfilment. Repent and believe in the Gospel”
Amen.