- Reading of the holy gospel according to Saint Matthew (4,12-23):
Upon learning Jesus After John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. leaving Nazareth He established himself in Capernaum, by the sea, in the territory of Zabulon and Naphtali, so that what had been said through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zabulon and land of Naphtali, on the way to the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles. The people who lived in darkness saw a great light; to those who dwelt on earth and in the shadow of death, a light shone.”
Since then it began Jesus to preach saying: «Repent, because the day is near. Kingdom of heavens».
Walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, who were casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen.
He told them: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left the nets and followed him. And going forward he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in the boat going over the nets with Zebedee, his father, and he called them. They immediately left the boat and his father and followed him. Jesus traveled all over Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all sickness and disease among the people. Lord’s word
The Gospel situates us today at the very beginnings of the public performance of Jesus; leaving Nazareth, his home and his family, he comes out of anonymity and the world that welcomes him receives the salvation it needed; settling in Capernaum, a fishing city on the shores of the Galilee sea. There it will appear in our life as the light that we lacked; He will appear in our darkened world, if we recognize that we lack his light and his presence. Jesus It can also be light for us, a source of life and warmth, the ability to discern and clarify problems, a new vision of things and people, support on the path of life and the security of reaching the end. But we should feel a greater need for him: he desires the light, who knows of his darkness; Only those who notice the darkness miss the clarity. For Jesus to become the light we lack, we will have to know the darkness in which we live; to leave the shadows that darken our existence, we will have to walk towards Jesus; convert to him, walk by his side, seeing in his light the things and the people we meet in our life, would make us enlightened men and women, people whose existence shines and attracts attention. And with our life, clarified by Jesus, we will serve as a claim to others so that they notice the light that Christ can introduce into their lives.
But it is not enough that Jesus insist on living among us; necessary, as it was for the inhabitants of Galilee, the first compatriots of Jesus, that we accept his demand: “Convert because the God’s Kingdom is near”. Conversion is nothing other than putting one’s life under God’s gaze and seeing it, “and wanting it” in the light of his demands; the light is not yearned for when one always lives in darkness; He will hardly miss God who feels comfortable with himself.
God has ceased to be relevant to the men with whom we live, because they have lacked our light, the shining example of a life of sincere follow-up. In order to convince the world that God wants to be close to him, to testify to men that Christ is his companion on the way, one must first approach God and live accompanying Jesus. There is still a lack of generous Christians, who are willing to leave what worries them so much, dream projects or achieved realities, to make it God and their projects – the axis of their lives, their motive and reason.
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For Jesus to illuminate our existence, we must follow him closely, make a radical choice for him, make his company our life’s task.
Pedro, Andrés, Santiago and Juan, who are named in the Gospel today they could have been unknown to us forever and, nevertheless, their simplicity, their “profession”, their people were benefited by the company that Jesus meant for them in their lives… they totally changed their being and doing in life and in his story. That is the call that Jesus also makes to you and me… How willing are we to follow Jesus and be joyful witnesses of his presence among us?
Today’s Christian is an apostle who has to bear witness to the presence of God in the world.
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