Time is ticking
Time is indeed ticking my friends! Last week will be the last week that I continue the text message notifications. If you would like to receive my weekly email update with a link to this website, please sign up through the button at the bottom of this page. Thank you to all who have already done so! Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Reading 1
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD'S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, " when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
What is your Nineveh? You have to remember what came before this scripture to appreciate what I mean. The Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh and he ran in the opposite direction, got swallowed by a fish, and spit back out. Jonah was certain that the Lord’s command was going to be his undoing, was impossible, and needed to be avoided at all times. What is my Ninevah? The first that comes to mind is reading the Bible. Up until 6 years ago I thought that the scripture I received in church was sufficient. I avoided reading the Bible even though there was the still small voice that called me there. When I was a religious ed teacher we were supposed to work Bible discussion into our class. That was an exercise in futility, or so I convinced myself. Look at me now, I read scripture every day, and the Lord directs my steps by bringing verses upon my heart daily. Scripture has become one source of manna in the desert of this life. What is your Nineveh: something that you have resisted that the Lord showed that He is in fact smarter than you? Are you currently running from Nineveh? Talk to the Lord about why and see what He speaks to your heart.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (4a) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
“Teach me your ways, O Lord.” What a simple beautiful prayer we can offer to the Lord! We are submitting to Him the authority. We are not praying, “Teach me that I am right in my ways.” When we are struggling with any of the items on Paul’s list below, “Teach me your ways, O Lord.” When we are struggling to accept a teaching of the faith, “Teach me your ways, O Lord.” When He calls us to Nineveh or out of the boat, “Teach me your ways, O Lord.”
Reading 2
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
Many can discount what Paul is saying as, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling.” Paul is not Chicken Little. This is a call to the heart of every Christian in every time. Time is running out. It is, for you, for me, for every single person born. What is wrong with being married, or weeping (tragedy strikes), or rejoicing, or enjoying what we have bought? Each of these is a very real part of living life this side of heaven. The danger lies that any one of these things can become our dominant focus, our identity. We must not loose sight that this is not our home, we were born to this life to live eternity in heaven. We are part of a much bigger picture and when we get wrapped up in this earthly life with our day to day woes we lose the big picture sometimes. If Paul were to write this letter to you today, what would he warn you away from? For myself? Paul would tell me not to put so many eggs in what I want in our retirement. Retirement is not heaven. Everything that we experience in this life is finite, it does not last. We must continually keep our gaze upon the eternal to drive through the finite.
Gospel
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
Lent is three and a half weeks away. I think it’s appropriate that it kicks off with Valentine’s Day this year, Who better to give our heart to than our Lord and Savior? The kingdom of God is at hand. Do you believe this? Each of our readings this week have a sense of urgency about them. Repent and believe in the gospel. Take time this week to pray with our Lord and plan ahead for Lent. To repent means to turn away, to change course. Jesus implores us to believe the gospel. Where does your unbelief lie? What do you have difficulty accepting? “Repent, and believe the gospel.” With God’s help, whatever it is that He calls to mind and places on your heart, commit to living your life in a way that demonstrates a turn to belief.
