Gospel & Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading
From: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Jonah Preaches Repentance in Nineveh

[1] Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] ”Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. [4] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Do Penance

[5] And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

[10] When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.
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Commentary:

3:1-4:11 The second part of the book has a similar structure to the first--God and Jonah (3:1-3; cf. 1:1-3); Jonah and Gentiles (3:4-10; cf. 1:4-16); Jonah and God (4:1-11; cf. 1:17-2:10). However, the reader is now psychologically prepared for what will happen: Jonah’s preaching will produce the desired result and the Ninevites will be converted. So, the story is geared to the last chapter which poses and solves the question that chapter 3 provokes. The episode described in this second part is therefore a practical illustration of the scope of God’s mercy. It was used as such in the debate with the Gnostics who argued that there was a difference between the good God (the God revealed in the New Testament) and the God revealed in the Old Testament: “See how the stress is laid on the greatest name and quality of God, his Mercy; that is, God is patient with evildoers, and rich in mercy and compassion for those who recognize their faults and repent them, as the Ninevites did. If such a Being as he is so good, you [...] have to admit that he can do no evil for, as Marcion himself once said, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit (Tertullian, "Adversus Marcionem", 2, 24).

3:1-4. God renews his command to Jonah. And this time Jonah obeys. Maybe the vows he promised to fulfill in 2:9 had to do with this--going to preach in Nineveh. Anyway, the success of his mission is assured, because it depends not on Jonah but on the Lord: it would take three days to cross Nineveh (v. 3), but he has only gone one day in his journey and the people convert (cf. 3:5).

3:5-10. The account of the conversion of the Ninevites looks like a straight copy from other biblical passages, particularly from the prophet Jeremiah: Jeremiah is the “prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5), and Jonah is sent to the archetypal Gentile city. There are many little things in this passage that are reminiscent of Jeremiah: in the book of Jeremiah, Jerusalem is called the “great city”, which is what Nineveh is called here (1:2; 3:2; cf. Jer 22:8-9), and both books have similar turns of phrase such as “let every one turn from his evil way”, “man and beast”, “from the greatest to the least” (3:5, 8; cf. Jer 6:13; 8:10; 36:3,7), etc. This passage is particularly reminiscent of the call for a fast made by Jeremiah in the time of King Jehoiakim; in Jeremiah 36 we are told how the prophet warned of misfortunes to come and proclaimed a fast for conversion (Jer 36:9), but the king refused to listen. Jonah, too, announces the destruction of Nineveh, but it is the Ninevites themselves who proclaim a general fast, as if God were speaking through them. Their own king establishes what the fast will involve, and he issues a decree that sounds just like something a prophet would have said (vv. 7-9; cf. Joel 2:12-14). Furthermore, the king of the Ninevites seems to be quite familiar with biblical teaching, for he is well aware (cf. Jer 36:3, 9) that displays of penance will not automatically stay God’s hand; the king has a genuine change of heart and is ready to submit to God (v. 9), and when God sees that these people are ready to mend their ways he revokes his decision to punish them (v. 10) The episode bears out Jeremiah's teaching about repentance (cf. Jer 18 7-8).

The difference between the Ninevites and the Israelites can be seen in the use that Jesus makes of this passage when he compares his Jewish contemporaries with their ancestors: “The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold something greater than Jonah is here” (Mt 12:41). It is not surprising, then, that in Christian tradition, the Ninevites are referred to as a model of repentance ‘Let us cast our minds backover the history of men, and see how theLord, in one generation after another, granted a time of penance to those who desired to be converted to him. Noah preached salvation, and those who listened to him were saved. Jonah told the Ninevites that their city would be destroyed and they repented of their sins and asked God for forgiveness and were saved by the power of their pleading, even though they were not part of the chosen people” (St Clement of Rome, "Ad Corinthios", 7, 5-7). And another text by a great Father of the Eastern Church says: “Do not dwell on how little time you have, but on the love of the Master. The inhabitants of Nineveh cooled God’s wrath in three days. They did not despair at how little time was left to them; their troubled souls won over the goodness of the Master, and he brought about their salvation” (St John Chrysostom, "De Incomprehensibile Dei Natura", 6).
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2nd Reading
From: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

The Excellence of Virginity

[29] I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, [30] and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, [31] and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away.
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Commentary:

25-35. The Apostle now explains the excellence of virginity or celibacy (vv. 26ff) for love of God as compared with marriage. The Magisterium of the Church has explicitly spoken on the same lines (cf. Council of Trent, "De Sacrum Matrimonio", can. 10; Pius XII, "Sacra Virginitas", 11).

He begins by saying that he has no commandment from the Lord on thismatter (cf. note on 7:12-16; Mt 19-12) but he for his part recommends celibacy, and his advice carries weight because he is an Apostle chosen by the Lord in his mercy. The reasons why he makes this recommendation reduce to one, basically--the love of God: the unmarried person can dedicate himself or herself to God more fully than a married person can, who has to look after the family and is "divided" (v. 34). "This is the main purpose and primary reason for Christian virginity--to dedicate oneself exclusively to divine things, giving them all one's attention and love, thinking of Him constantly and consecrating oneself to Him completely, body and soul" (Pius XII, "Sacra Virginitas", 5). This exclusive dedication to God will lead to a full and productive life because it enables a person to love others and devote himself or herself to them with great freedom and availability. Also, celibacy has an eschatological dimension: it is a special sign of heavenly delights (cf. Vatican II, "Perfectae Caritatis", 12), and points to the fact that the blessed in heaven live as angels (cf. Mt 22:30).

St Paul's references to marriage should be understood in the context in which he is writing (cf. note on 7:1-9). All he wants to make clear here is that, although celibacy is a higher state, marriage is not something bad: those who marry are not doing anything wrong (v. 28), nor is there any need for married people to live as celibates (vv. 3-5) or to separate (v. 27). However, only someone who acknowledges the great value that marriage has is in a position to appreciate celibacy as a gift of God. "Virginity or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of God not only does not contradict the dignity of marriage but presupposes it and confirms it. Marriage and virginity or celibacy are two ways of expressing and living the one mystery of the covenant of God with his people. When marriage is not esteemed, neither can consecrated virginity or celibacy exist; when human sexuality is not regarded as a great value given by the Creator, the renunciation of it for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven loses its meaning" (John Paul II,"Familiaris Consortio", 16)

29-31. In their letters, St Paul and the other Apostles frequently remind us that life is short (cf. Rom 13:11-14; 2 Pet 3:8; 1 Jn 2:15-17), in order to encourage us to make the very best use of our time to serve God, and others for his sake. "When I reflect on this, how well Iunderstand St Paul's exclamation when he writes to the Corinthians, "tempus breve est" (1 Cor 7:29). How short indeed is the time of our passing through this world! For the true Christian these words ring deep down in his heart as a reproach to his lack of generosity, and as a constant invitation to be loyal. Brief indeed is our time for loving, for giving, for making atonement. It would be very wrong, therefore, for us to waste it, or to cast this treasure irresponsibly overboard. We must not squander this period of the world's history which God has entrusted to each one of us" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 39).

A Christian, therefore, should always be detached from worldly things, and never let himself become the slave of anything or anyone (cf. 1 Cor 7:23; "Lumen Gentium", 42) but, instead, always have his sights on eternal life. "It is a great help towards this", St Teresa of Avila teaches, "if we keep a very constant care of the vanity of all things, and the rapidity with which they pass away, so that we may withdraw ouraffections from everything and fix them on what will last forever. This may seem to be a poor kind of help but it will have the effect of greatly fortifying the soul. With regard to little things, we must be very careful, as soon as we begin to be fond of them, to think no more about them and to turn our thoughts to God. His majesty will help us to do this" ("Way of Perfection", chap. X).
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Gospel
From: Mark 1:14-20

Jesus Begins to Preach and Calls His First Disciples

[14] Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preachingthe gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdomof God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel."

[16] And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrewthe brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.[17] And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you becomefishers of men." [18] And immediately they left their nets and followedhim. [19] And going on a little farther, he saw James the son ofZebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.[20] And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedeein the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.
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Commentary:

14-15. "The gospel of God": this _expression is found in St Paul (Rom1:1; 2 Cor 11:7; etc.) where it means the same as "the gospel of JesusChrist" (2 Thess 1:8; etc.), thereby implying the divinity of JesusChrist. The imminence of the Kingdom requires a genuine conversion ofman to God (Mt 4:17; Mk 6: 12; etc.). The prophets had already spokenof the need for conversion and for Israel to abandon its evil ways (Jer3:22; Is 30:15; Hos 14:2; etc.).

Both John the Baptist and Jesus and his Apostles insist on the need forconversion, the need to change one's attitude and conduct as aprerequisite for receiving the Kingdom of God. John Paul II underlinesthe importance of conversion for entry into the Kingdom of God:"Therefore, the Church professes and proclaims conversion. Conversionto God always consists in discovering his mercy, that is, indiscovering that love which is patient and kind (cf. 1 Cor 13:4) asonly the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the 'God andFather of our Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Cor 1:3) is faithful to theuttermost consequences in the history of his covenant with man: even tothe Cross and to the death and resurrection of the Son. Conversion toGod is always the fruit of the 'rediscovery' of this Father, who isrich in mercy.

"Authentic knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love, is aconstant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not only as amomentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as a state ofmind. Those who come to know God in this way, who 'see' him in thisway, can live only in a state of being continually converted to him.They live, therefore, "in statu conversionis" and it is this state ofconversion which marks out the most profound element of the pilgrimageof every man and woman on earth "in statu viatoris" (John Paul II,"Dives In Misericordia", 13).

16-20. In these verses the evangelist describes how Jesus called someof those who would later form part of the Apostolic College (3:16ff).From the start of his public ministry in Galilee the Messiah seeksco-workers to help him in his mission as Savior and Redeemer. He looksfor them among people used to hard work, people for whom life is astruggle and whose life-style is plain. In human terms they areobviously at a disadvantage vis-a-vis many of those to whom they willpreach; but this in no way prevents their self-surrender from beinggenerous and free. The light lit in their hearts was enough to leadthem to give up everything. A simple invitation to follow the Masterwas enough for them to put themselves completely at his disposal.

It is Jesus who chooses them: he interfered in the lives of theApostles just as he interferes in ours, without seeking our permission:he is our Lord. Cf. note on Mt 4:18-22.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.