Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 68
25 JAN 2015


(Jonah Preaching in Nineveh)

Reading 1 JONAH 3:1-5, 10

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

Responsorial Psalm PS 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R.Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.



Reading 2 1 COR 7:29-31

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.

Alleluia MK 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.



Gospel MK 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

Overview of the Gospel:

• The events of this Sunday’s Gospel according to Mark occur just after Jesus’ baptism by John
the Baptist, and his temptation by the devil in the wilderness (Mark 1:9-13). It also occurs after
the initial calling of the first four disciples we heard about last Sunday.

• Jesus begins his preaching after the arrest of John, who is considered to be the last of the Old
Testament prophets. The time for prophecy is through: Jesus picks up John’s call to repent
(verses 1-8, 15) and announces the kingdom of God (verses 14-15).

• Jesus calls for repentance before anything else—before knowledge, good works, even before
faith. The word “repent” literally means to “change your mind”; to go from rebellion against God
to obedience (Jeremiah 3:22; Isaiah 30:15; Hosea 14:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 6:12).

• The call to repentance comes from the mercy of God, and the response is conversion, both
initially and throughout the life of a disciple of Jesus.

• St. Mark tells us that Simon Peter, James, John and Andrew respond immediately to the call
by Jesus (verses 18, 20). The first three of this four will later form the “inner circle” of Jesus’
Apostles, being present with him at key points in his ministry (Mark 6:35-43; Matthew 17:1,
26:37). Andrew will play a key part in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes
(John 6:8) which will lead to Jesus’ great Bread of Life discourse.

Questions:

• What was Jesus’ invitation to these fishermen? What seems unusual about their response?
What prior knowledge of Jesus do you think they had (Mark 1:14-15; John 1:35-42)? What
might the elder Zebedee felt (verse 22)? How significant is the fact that Jesus’ very first
disciples were fishermen (verses 16-20; Jeremiah 16:14-16)?

• When and why was John the Baptist arrested (verse 14; Matthew 4:12-17; Luke 4:14-15)?
What significance does his arrest have for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of preaching (verse
15)? How does it foreshadow the last days of his ministry?

• What is it about Jesus that makes you want to follow him?

• Different types of fishermen need different skills: sailing, casting, mending nets, reading
charts, etc. If Jesus asked you to be a “fisher of men”, what skills could you bring?

• Spiritually, are you still sitting on the shore mending nets? Leaving the boat? Following right
after Jesus? Feeling left behind?
(courtesy: Scripture Study For Catholics)

Bible Study--3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time--Cycle B
(courtesy: Faith Studies, St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Picayune, MS)


(The Calling of Sts. Peter and Andrew, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1300)

"Having before you many examples of sinners who repented and were saved, be you also earnest in confessing to the Lord, that you may receive pardon for past sins, be made worthy of the heavenly gift, and inherit the kingdom of heaven with all the saints." -St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+ A.D. 386)

Thanks op and God Bless

you're very welcome artman54!

God Bless

I have to admit when I saw this question I began to tear up.


It's MERCY and GRACE and  that makes me follow  offering that to others, hoping I will get it right some day.






Thank you so much for such a sweet reminder!