Reflection for the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
You hit the snooze button
on your alarm clock and burrow back down under the covers for a few more
minutes of peace. Life amid the pandemic,
social injustice and political upheaval has left us exhausted. It’s time for a reset.
In today’s first reading,
Jonah warned the people of Nineveh to turn from their evil ways. And, remarkable, they do. The people of Nineveh, great and small,
realized their wrong doing, pressed the reset button and humbly repented. And
then rejoiced when their lives were not destroyed when the God of Mercy showed abundant
concern for them and their great city.
God is concerned about
us, also. How many of us prayed like
never before when the Capitol was attacked the other week. God wept to see our anguish. The Inauguration is a kind of reset button
where we, as a country, and as beloved children of God, must take stock of all
our failings and humbly work together to make the kingdom of God a reality in
our own time and place. The God of Mercy
calls us. We ought to rejoice to hit our
own reset button and begin our lives anew like Peter and Andrew, James and John
on hearing Jesus’ call to follow him.
We long for Jesus, God’s
promise of mercy, to liberate us from this darkness we are experiencing. Like his followers before us, we can reset
our lives by listening to his word in scripture to learn the lessons of love. Only then may we begin to lessen the load
that weighs us down and lead others by our example of humble repentance to live
rejoicing in the here and now. Jesus is THE RESET BUTTON. It is time.
Press reset.
