Today we begin the Sunday readings for ordinary time in our new liturgical year. Thus, we also have the story of the beginning of Christ’s public ministry from the Gospel of St. Mark.
Three things to point out and reflect on in today’s Gospel. One, Christ leaves home, Nazareth, for Capernaum to begin his ministry. Two, his first activity is to make a proclamation, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Three, he calls fishermen to be his first disciples.
Journey pattern
Christ leaving home for Capernaum was symbolic of his break from the past to start a new stage in his life. Capernaum then becomes home to Christ and his apostles, where much of his ministry would take place.
In the classic work of Joseph Campbell that chronicles the Hero’s Journey, leaving home is the final stage in the first part of the journey; a response to the call and the threshold from the ordinary to the special world, from the social realm into the spiritual realm.
The journey from this threshold leads to the road of trials, where one meets friends and enemies. Then there is the saving experience or ordeal that brings about transformation. This becomes the second threshold back to the ordinary realm, back home—transformed and able to bestow on others the blessings and fruits of the heroic journey.
Christ follows the same heroic journey pattern. He leaves home to journey on the road to his mission, on the way of the Cross and the Resurrection, to be the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased.
Along the way, he picks up friends and allies, the call of the first disciples. Then he will also encounter or make enemies. We will go back to this later.
The second point for reflection is Christ making a proclamation as the first activity of his ministry. This gives us both the form and the substance of his mission. His mission is to be the messenger or the herald of the kingdom coming into our midst.
The messenger had a very special and clear function. He proclaims for someone, and he proclaims that something will happen. These two show us Christ’s authority (he speaks for someone, God, his Father) and his courage (he announces an event of consequence that will happen), and challenges his listeners either in an inspiring or adversarial way.
The proclamation of Christ is probably one of the most, if not the most, radical changes in history in both the social and spiritual realms. It brings the special into the ordinary and raises the ordinary into the special; the human into the divine and the divine into the human.
Christ called fishermen
The irony of this is Christ calls ordinary, poor fishermen to be the messengers and heralds to continue the work of proclaiming after his time on earth.
The choice of friends and allies is significant. As one scripture commentary remarks, the poor have nothing material to offer and thus they offer the very best. They give of themselves. He further writes that the fishermen have inherent qualities that are helpful to the ministry.
Fishermen setting out into the deep in the dark of night tell us of their courage. The very nature of their work requires patience and perseverance, plus a good sense of timing as a fruit of knowing how to read the signs of the situation. Finally, they must be unseen, not even cast a shadow, lest they drive away the catch.
‘Break from the past’
Each year, or each beginning of a cycle, is an opportune time to “break from the past,” a chance at new beginnings. Like Christ, though, the break could be a synthesis of the stage one leaves behind and a choice to move forward with greater clarity and resolve to more generously and lovingly live out the mission.
Like Christ who proclaimed his message and mission of repentance to enjoy the fruits of the kingdom of heaven, we are also to proclaim in our day-today life the message that comes from God through us. This is because each one of us has a specific quality of relationship with God. Some have the awesome experience of God’s goodness and thus must proclaim this goodness in their daily life. Others sing a mantra of praise to God’s faithful love, so this is what they must let shine.
Each one of us has a unique proclamation to make, yet all of us ultimately lead others back to God—letting his love and grace shine in us that others may see him more clearly in their life.
Our proclamation has one natural consequence. It will build community or inspire others to build their communities.
What we often do not talk about are the “enemies” we make in this journey. Let me propose a simple image. When we raise a point, often a counter-point is raised. Here we either create a rupture or we can eventually create a new synthesis.
In this synthesis, we “disappear.” Our point and the other’s counter-point all disappear and blend into the synthesis. This requires patience and perseverance, discernment and timing, and a selflessness that trumps the self-centered ego.
Each beginning, each threshold is a chance to live through all this. Each cycle brings us closer to the best we can become—to see Christ more clearly, to love him more dearly and to follow him more nearly in the day to day. Let us journey into the ordinary to bring God’s extraordinary love and grace. —CONTRIBUTED
