I became a political junkie for the Inauguration Day. The snow and ice overnight had me trapped in Fatima. The parking lot was too slippery to walk on. So, I made the best of it by watching Trump's departure and Biden's inauguration events. I actually started the night before with the ceremony at the reflecting pool to honor the 400,000 who died from the virus. It was a very moving ceremony, opened by the prayer of our Cardinal Gregory. It was a prayer service for all Americans. Even with 25,000 National Guard Troops protecting the Capitol, it was a very American inauguration, especially the program presented at night. It was a great celebration for all Americans! Let us pray for the new administration and Congress. There are still very tough times ahead of us but with the help of God, we, as a people of many races and religions, will get through it as a united people, loving one another. As Jesus says: Love is the answer.
Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is also "Sunday of the Word of God". Pope Francis asks us to spend more time with Scripture today. You can read a little extra from the Bible today and actually everyday. Reading the Bible, the Word of God, is prayer. But you can even go further by reading and thinking about what you are reading. One way is to simply put yourself into the biblical scene you are reading. You can look at the passage from the point of view of any or all the characters presented. Our first reading today from the Prophet Jonah is an easy one. The passage we have today is the middle of the story, when Jonah actually goes to Nineveh to preach God's message which was very simple: "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed." The message was simple but the act of preaching it took great courage. The city of Nineveh was a hostile power to the Jews. They had conquered most of the Jewish Kingdom. Remember the first part of the story, when God told Jonah to go there, he ran away and found himself on a sinking ship and the sailors threw him over board to save themselves. Jonah was then swallowed by a great fish who three days later spit him up on the shore. That's when Jonah decided to follow God's command to preach God's message. The people of Nineveh took Jonas' message to heart and repented and God spared them. God was merciful even to the enemies of his people. The story of Jonah continues. After he preached thinking God would destroy Nineveh, Jonah found a place in the shade outside the city to watch God's wrath at work and he was disappointed when it didn't happen. A caterpillar even ate away Jonah's shade. Try to imagine how he felt.
In today's Gospel, Jesus begins his preaching: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." From the very beginning Jesus knew he would need help to preach his message, so he calls his first disciples: Simon (Peter) and Andrew and James and John. They leave everything and follow him. We, as Church, are called today to do the same. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Jesus calls us today and everyday to grow closed to him by loving God and loving our neighbor.
This Sunday afternoon at 1 PM there will be a zoom meeting honoring MLK. Join us if you can. We continue to have Mass on Sunday at 8:15 and 10:30 AM, masked and socially distanced. La Donna sings at the 10:30 and Cheryl and Francine record that Mass, which can later be seen through our website. Let us continue to pray for an end to the pandemic.