by David Ssentamu on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 10:44pm
Readings: Isaiah 8:23-9:3-1; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23
The world we live in today continues in hope to wait for Christ to deliver it from the many ills that surround it. Christ has already come, but it is your responsibility and mine to bring him closer to the waiting world. Sicknesses, poverty, wars, child abuse, sexual abuse of women in homes and war ravaged areas, exploitation of workers in some parts of the world, evils of unemployment, bad laws that have continued to degrade minority groups, poor countries having no say in the issues of international trade and thus deliberately keeping them poor by the rich, leaders who abuse their offices etc. are such evils that the world daily hopes to be delivered from. Have you ever paused to think how we deprive others a chance to know Christ because of our disunity?
The first reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from Matthew keep alive the memory of Christmas for us. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness– on them a light has shined." Christ is here already to set all of us free.
The second reading from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians urges the Corinthians to be united. He calls them to agree in what they say, and that there may be no divisions among them. He calls them to be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.
Paul is calling on the Christians of Corinth to understand their call and their mission. A call and mission that can only be attained in unity.
Matthew in the Gospel attests to the call to unity by presenting us with two actors, namely John and Jesus. After John had been arrested, Jesus begins from where John had stopped. John’s mission was seen in the desert where he was baptizing and calling people to conversion, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew while inviting his community to unity, presents Jesus beginning to preach and inviting people to repentance, just like John had been doing.
Later on in the same gospel we have heard Jesus calling the first disciples. It is around the unity of these with him that his mission and purpose would first be encountered by the waiting world.
It is by Christ forming a community around himself that he would reach out to the waiting world, and in this way he would also invite us to share in his mission. While united with him and with our brothers and sisters, we transform the darkness of the people we reach out to into light and their sorrows into laughter.
Even though the call to follow Jesus was a privilege beyond imagination, there is no attempt to pretend the disciples were ideal people. They were very real people -- contentious, weak at times, often baffled by Jesus. Even when they understood Jesus and his teaching, the disciples were capable of rejecting and failing him.
In choosing to be a Christian there are moments perhaps when we find ourselves in total disagreement with one another. There are times when my point of view seems to be suffocated, and yet I believe myself to be right. At moments like these, a Christian who has been enriched in the knowledge of Christ remembers that Christ invites us around himself with our weaknesses and little strengths to build a community. A true Christian would then pray for unity and also work hard to resolve points from which disunity arises.
Christian unity is a call to communion. It is so desired by Jesus, and he prays for it: “That they may be one just as you and I are one” (Jn. 17:11b). It is in unity and communion with the brothers and sisters that the image of God in which we were created is manifested into the world. In unity we give hope and life to the waiting world. In unity, we bring God closer to our brothers and sisters; as married husbands or wives we bring love to our spouses. In unity we are able to be good parents and good examples to our children. As law makers we are able to make good laws for our countries; and in our different communities we co-exist with our differences. We are able to understand the pains of those who suffer, and needless to mention when there is joy we share it.
This appreciation of unity further allows us to be aware that as humans we are limited, and so many times we are prone to make mistakes. In this way Christian call is also an invitation to humble ourselves before God and our fellow humans, while working hard to promote conditions that bring about unity other than working for disunity.
Let us pray for the unity of the Church. We pray for our separated brethren. We pray also that the Church as a mother may continue to promote unity of all her children; while listening to the cries of all who have hope in her. We pray that in unity we bring Christ to the waiting world.
The world we live in today continues in hope to wait for Christ to deliver it from the many ills that surround it. Christ has already come, but it is your responsibility and mine to bring him closer to the waiting world. Sicknesses, poverty, wars, child abuse, sexual abuse of women in homes and war ravaged areas, exploitation of workers in some parts of the world, evils of unemployment, bad laws that have continued to degrade minority groups, poor countries having no say in the issues of international trade and thus deliberately keeping them poor by the rich, leaders who abuse their offices etc. are such evils that the world daily hopes to be delivered from. Have you ever paused to think how we deprive others a chance to know Christ because of our disunity?
The first reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from Matthew keep alive the memory of Christmas for us. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness– on them a light has shined." Christ is here already to set all of us free.
The second reading from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians urges the Corinthians to be united. He calls them to agree in what they say, and that there may be no divisions among them. He calls them to be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.
Paul is calling on the Christians of Corinth to understand their call and their mission. A call and mission that can only be attained in unity.
Matthew in the Gospel attests to the call to unity by presenting us with two actors, namely John and Jesus. After John had been arrested, Jesus begins from where John had stopped. John’s mission was seen in the desert where he was baptizing and calling people to conversion, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew while inviting his community to unity, presents Jesus beginning to preach and inviting people to repentance, just like John had been doing.
Later on in the same gospel we have heard Jesus calling the first disciples. It is around the unity of these with him that his mission and purpose would first be encountered by the waiting world.
It is by Christ forming a community around himself that he would reach out to the waiting world, and in this way he would also invite us to share in his mission. While united with him and with our brothers and sisters, we transform the darkness of the people we reach out to into light and their sorrows into laughter.
Even though the call to follow Jesus was a privilege beyond imagination, there is no attempt to pretend the disciples were ideal people. They were very real people -- contentious, weak at times, often baffled by Jesus. Even when they understood Jesus and his teaching, the disciples were capable of rejecting and failing him.
In choosing to be a Christian there are moments perhaps when we find ourselves in total disagreement with one another. There are times when my point of view seems to be suffocated, and yet I believe myself to be right. At moments like these, a Christian who has been enriched in the knowledge of Christ remembers that Christ invites us around himself with our weaknesses and little strengths to build a community. A true Christian would then pray for unity and also work hard to resolve points from which disunity arises.
Christian unity is a call to communion. It is so desired by Jesus, and he prays for it: “That they may be one just as you and I are one” (Jn. 17:11b). It is in unity and communion with the brothers and sisters that the image of God in which we were created is manifested into the world. In unity we give hope and life to the waiting world. In unity, we bring God closer to our brothers and sisters; as married husbands or wives we bring love to our spouses. In unity we are able to be good parents and good examples to our children. As law makers we are able to make good laws for our countries; and in our different communities we co-exist with our differences. We are able to understand the pains of those who suffer, and needless to mention when there is joy we share it.
This appreciation of unity further allows us to be aware that as humans we are limited, and so many times we are prone to make mistakes. In this way Christian call is also an invitation to humble ourselves before God and our fellow humans, while working hard to promote conditions that bring about unity other than working for disunity.
Let us pray for the unity of the Church. We pray for our separated brethren. We pray also that the Church as a mother may continue to promote unity of all her children; while listening to the cries of all who have hope in her. We pray that in unity we bring Christ to the waiting world.
