Scripture Study for

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

The book of Jonah is an unusual story of conversion. Nineveh was Israel’s mortal enemy. It was also a symbol for wickedness in the ancient world. Yet when  Jonah preached repentance to it, the people heeded the message of the prophet,  believed in God, and proclaimed a fast. Jonah was not happy that his enemy  repented, but this story demonstrates the universality of divine compassion. It  shows that God is willing to forgive even a nation that had been brutal toward  Israel, the chosen people. All the people of Nineveh, great and small, put on the  garments of penance. 

Paul teaches about the endtime. Unlike the regular measure or unfolding  of time (chronos), this is a different notion of time, kairos, a time of greatest sig nificance for God’s divine plan. It refers to decisive moments, those that are  ordained by God, those that mark the inbreaking of God’s action. It is considered  the time of fulfillment, of divine revelation. It denotes critical moments in the life  of Jesus, his inauguration of the reign of God, his passion and death, his return at  the endtime. Paul insists that the kairos is fast approaching and so the Christians  must live in the present age as though it had already come. 

Jesus inaugurates his ministry with this bold declaration: The kingdom of  God is at hand. This is an extraordinary time (kairos), the time of fulfillment of all  expectations. After the initial announcement, Jesus calls for repentance. Just like  the prophets of old, he calls for a change of heart, a return to God. This announcement is followed by an account of the call of the fishermen Simon, Andrew, James,  and John. The abruptness with which these men leave their familiar lives and all  of the relationships and obligations associated with them is a final indication of  the radical nature of life in the kingdom of God. This is truly a new way of living  in the world. 

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