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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Year B

God’s Will: The Conversion of All

You might want to read the early part of Jonah’s story leading to his ending up  in the belly of a “great fish” for three days and nights—a biblical moment distinct  in its appeal to the sense of smell, besides bringing out the more playful side  of Israel’s God. Coming today in mid-story, we miss the struggle between Jonah’s  stubbornness (“I won’t go to Nineveh!”) and God’s (“Yes, you will!”). But today’s  emphasis falls on how powerful God’s word proves to be, even when uttered by  an unwilling prophet who wanted nothing more than to see Nineveh go up in  smoke—people, property, and even cows. 

Thomas Aquinas once said that when you love a person, their loves become  your own. A pleasant enough thought, except when you extend it to God, and realize that it is not given to us to determine what might fall outside of God’s loving,  enormous embrace and desire to save. While the world that is passing away is often  marked by the mess we humans have made of it, God is determined to change this  destructive course into a world renewed and wants us engaged in the work.

We get a hint of what this means when we hear the message Jesus proclaimed:  God’s reign is at hand, so turn away from sin and believe in the gospel—the good  news Jesus preached, the good news that is Jesus. We are invited to be part of the  solution rather than the problem, joining in the work begun by Jesus and preaching God’s offer of salvation to all. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Do you see yourself called to proclaim that God’s kingdom is “at hand”? 
  • What does this message mean? 
  • How do you live out this invitation? 

Responding to the Word

Loving God, when Jesus proclaimed that your kingdom was near, he was  announcing that you were at work in him for the salvation of the world. Help us to  trust this message and to hear his call in our lives, respond to it, and communicate this gospel to others. Amen.

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Scripture Study for

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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Listening for God

The story of the future prophet Samuel begins by telling us that the voice of  the Lord was rarely heard and visions were uncommon. God seemed to have  broken off communication, given Israel’s spotty record of keeping the Lord’s com mandments. Or perhaps no one was giving attention to God’s voice? One night  when Eli the priest and young Samuel were sleeping in the temple, God called  Samuel by name. Three times God called, and each time Samuel went in to where  Eli was sleeping to see what he wanted. Finally, Eli realized it was the Lord and  told Samuel what to say. 

When Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized, John the Baptist pointed him  out to those who would be his first disciples. They “heard what he said and fol lowed Jesus.” One of them, Andrew, then went and got his brother Peter. Peter  listened and followed his brother to meet Jesus. 

Sometimes God speaks in the silence of the night, sometimes in the bustle  of everyday life. I loved the TV series Joan of Arcadia, in which God would show up  in various guises—a street performer, an eccentric elderly lady, a child. Scripture  reminds us to keep on our toes, lest God walk on by. Even a first recognition of  Jesus did not totally reveal all that he was. The disciples called him Rabbi and  Messiah, but only John the Baptist knew him for the Lamb of God who would take  away the sins of the world. 

Consider/Discuss

  • In a popular hymn we sing that we have heard God calling in the  night. Have you heard God calling lately—night or day? 
  • Has your response to God’s call been more like Samuel’s or Andrew’s,  needing some assistance, or immediate? 

Responding to the Word

God who has spoken in times past, help us individually and as a community  to listen for your voice in our day. Send us mentors and friends who will help us  to know it is your voice, and give us the courage to respond to your call. Amen.

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Scripture Study for

The vivid and dynamic account of the call of Samuel is both a call narrative  and a theophany or manifestation of God. There is a clear difference between  Samuel’s relationship with God before this experience and his relationship after  it. Though pious, the young Samuel did not know God well; he had received no  revelation. His encounter was transformative; a bond was forged between him  and God. His responsiveness opened him further, enabling him to receive the  word of God and, presumably, to speak it to others. Samuel’s influence is attributed to God’s direction in his life. It was God who made Samuel’s words effective. Paul furnishes the Corinthian community with instruction on the sanctity of the  human body. Since it is through our bodies that union with Christ is possible, this  same body is to be revered. God highly values the human body, as evident in  the bodily resurrection first of Christ and then of others. Paul goes on to assert  that our bodies are temples of the Spirit, the same Spirit with whom we are one  through our union with Christ. Paul’s final admonition is brief but quite revealing.  He calls upon the Corinthians to glorify God in their bodies, which are the means  by which we touch the mysteries of God. 

There are times when intermediaries play important roles in the lives of others. The Gospel reading describes two such instances of this. John directs two of  his own disciples to Jesus. He identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, a title that may  be based on an interpretation of the description of the Suffering Servant found  in the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 53:7). Later in the story, Andrew recognizes something in Jesus and becomes convinced that he is the long-awaited one. Andrew  then brings his brother Peter to Jesus. In both instances, the faith of an associate  begins another’s own journey to discipleship. 

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A Feast for Searchers

“If there weren’t any Wise Men, there should have been,” a spiritual mentor once told me. This was at a time when a story’s truth was equated with its being  factual. The story of the Wise Men is true, whether it is factual in its details or  not. From the beginning of time, there have been those who have been searching for “truth” or “light” or other divine signals. This journey often begins when  something in our world catches the attention of those looking up or out from  themselves, glimpsing a “star” beckoning. 

The truth behind the story of the Wise Men affirms that God sends out signals  for searchers to pick up on and move further down the road that will take them to  God. Sometimes we might get lost for a while, our internal GPS ceasing to function because we have made a sudden turn or gone past a suggested turn-off. But,  then, in a moment of grace, we hear a welcome “recalculating,” and we are off on our way once again. 

Even when “darkness covers the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples,”  the One we are searching for is present, and will not let us go off the trail completely—at least not for long, and eventually, in “God’s good time,” we will find  our way. The light will return and the Lord’s glory will shine upon all seekers and  searchers—even some not much interested in seeking or searching. These, especially, are the ones the Son of Man came to save. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Are you a searcher, a seeker after “something”? Can you name it?
  • Have you had any experience of “finding God,” or “coming to Christ”?
  • Have you ever been a “star” for another? 

Responding to the Word

Jesus, send the guiding light we all need to find you. Sometimes there is only  darkness and we grow tired, frightened, even hopeless. Be with us then and bring  us to that place where you can be found. We pray with St. John Henry Newman:  “Lead, kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom. Lead thou me on!” Amen.

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