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MONDAY, FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 

1 Sam 1:1-8; Ps 116:12-19; Mk 1:14-20

Knowing and Doing the Will of God

We commence the Ordinary Time of the Church with the celebration of the baptism of the Lord. Leaving the air and joy of festivities to the ordinary things and activities of everyday living is like leaving the mountain of Jerusalem and the Temple to Galilee of nations. It is easy to think of God and the religious demands of our faith while in Jerusalem, with its religious landmarks and style of living. It is not the same when we come down to Galilee of all nations with its characteristic commercial and mundane activities. We feel the same way when the festive periods end, and we return to ordinary time, with no decorations, songs, and things to keep our minds preoccupied with things of God. What engages us in the ordinary time or non-festive period of the Church’s year is our various needs we must fulfil and duties we must carry out, which we suspend in order to celebrate the festivals. These demands tend to overshadow the thought of God and our faith in Him. But this is when we must train our minds and hearts in religious convictions and faith in God.

Ordinary time is when we must till the hard soil of our souls to plant or sow God’s word we have amply heard during our festive period, when we frequented the church and lived practically in the presence of God. The Lord we worshipped so devotedly during the festive period, while we momentarily paused our daily professional engagements, comes to invite us to walk and work with him through our professional engagements. He needs our various professions to proclaim the Good News of salvation to all souls. In the Gospel, we read of his coming to summon the four, who would be his apostles, to leave their occupations and family ties to follow him to fulfil the will of the Father. “As he was walking along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him.” Our worship of God with pomp and pageantry during the festivities is important, but more important is our response to his invitation to follow him in faith as he directs our occupations and vocations in the daily course of events. His demand on our faith rises over family ties and love of our professions. “Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending their nets. He called them at once and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.”

The demands of our Lord on us to proclaim the Gospel come to everyone of us in our daily engagements. Our faithful obedience to his gentle summons will make the seed of the word of God he sows within us grow and mature into a great faith and love of God and neighbours. Apart from the gentle summons of our Lord for us to follow him, the trials also come in abundance on account of the word of God we have heard and cherished during the festivities to dissuade us from sowing the word of God deep in our souls and daily living. Hannah had to remain faithful to the Lord and to her husband, and charitable to her co-wife, after the joyful sacrifices and worship of God in Jerusalem, in spite of her barrenness and the taunts of her co-wife. “Her rival would taunt her to annoy her, because the Lord had made her barren. And this went on year after year; every time they went up to the temple of the Lord, she used to taunt her. And so Hannah wept and would not eat.” This situation of things in Hannah’s life was the way the Lord chose to direct her life and strengthen her faith in God. We pray for grace not to forget that all events in our lives are orchestrated by the Lord himself to make our faith and love for God grow stronger. All these events call us to repentance because the kingdom of God is now with us. It must be our first preoccupation before any occupation, and we must profess our faith in Jesus Christ in every profession.

Let us pray: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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