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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Fr. Chad VanHoose, Associate Pastor January 21, 2018

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Since we’re celebrating today the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time I thought that I would give an ordinary homily. But I don’t intend this perhaps in the same way that you interpret it, because in the English language the word ordinary means something much different from the way the church intends this word. In the English language ordinary means not special, common, mundane, perhaps even unimportant. And this idea I think is reinforced, that ordinary time is unimportant by the fact that it falls outside the of the major liturgical seasons, Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter but this is a faulty interpretation because ordinary time is anything but unimportant. You see ordinary time is called ordinary simply because the weeks are numbered. The Latin word ordinalis from which we get that word ordinary simply refers to numbers in a series. It has a deeper root in the Latin word Ordo, which would mean order. So we could see in the numbered weeks of ordinary time the ordered life of the church and we might even think of the ordinary or the ordered way that Jesus lived.
You know that transition from Christmas all the way to Easter. The ordered way that Jesus lived from his infancy to the cross and ultimately to his resurrection.  You know these 33 years that Jesus lived in an ordered way are mostly silent. We don’t know a lot of the details about Jesus’s life. They were silent. But it was in these years, these ordered years, that Jesus grew. Jesus was growing during that whole time. I think it’s no accident that the number of years that Jesus lived on this Earth there are about the same number of weeks in ordinary time. So this is instructive for us and even the colors that the priest wears at mass. There is a reason that I wear different colors during different seasons and I assure you my decision to wear green or purple on any given Sunday has nothing to do with the Packers or with the Vikings. You see our children who are formed in the catechesis of the Good Shephard program learn the different meanings of the liturgical colors and they could tell you that the priest wears green in Ordinary time because green is the color of growth, of growing. So we could see then that in these weeks of ordinary time we have a season in which the kingdom of God is meant to grow in our hearts.
This is the season brothers and sisters of growing. And in nature when we see things grow it often happens gradually and again in silence. We might even miss it unless we marked it in a certain way.  We might miss our own physical growth unless one day we had to go to a new notch on our belt. Then we would realize, okay, I grew. Or if we were making hash marks in the door jamb to say yes, I grew this year more than last year. So this could be a symbol for us that maybe even your family, as you count the weeks of ordinary time each year you might ask one another on a regular basis, “How are you growing spiritually? How are you different on the 25th week of ordinary time as opposed to the third Sunday of ordinary time?”
Our readings today get at this concept of growth and conversion. Counting. In the first reading Jonah breaks into the lives of the Ninevites. He has a strong message for them. He tells them unless you repent in 40 days , he gives them a countdown, you will be destroyed. And what do the Ninevites do?  They turn to the Lord, they repent and this ultimately then is the reason that they’re spared.
In the second reading, St Paul calls out the Corinthians in a similar manner. He tells them the clock is ticking. Your time is running out. So what for the world in its present form is passing away. St Paul tells the Corinthians again in a numbered way that they should only live for those things that are eternal. They need to look at the world differently than they are currently practicing. 
In the gospel Jesus calls his first followers. What does he say to those followers? This is the time of fulfilment. Again, we are talking about time. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus comes to those first followers in their daily work. They were fisherman, so he comes to them on the seashore. And he calls them to live differently just as St. Paul was calling the Corinthians to look at the world differently and Jesus uses his first words in the Gospel of Mark, this first gospel to be written, to call the apostles to repentance. He says repent and believe in the gospel – he proclaims the good news to men and to women telling them that they should order their lives in a different way. Brothers and sisters in this same manner Jesus comes to each of us today. We can’t live the feasting of Christmas and Easter, we can’t even live the penance of Lent and Advent unless we encounter our Lord here during ordinary time. In this season of counting, this season of growth ultimately this season of order. So let us give ourselves to the Lord this day and ask the Lord that the kingdom would grow in the silence of our hearts.
grow it often happens gradually and again in silence we might even miss it unless we marked it in a certain way we might miss our own physical growth and less one day we had to go to a new notch on our belt then we realized okay or if we're making hash marks in the how to say yes I grew this year more than last year so this could be a symbol for us that maybe even your families as you count the weeks of ordinary time each year you might ask one another on a regular basis how are you growing spiritually how are you different on the 25th week of ordinary time as opposed to the third Sunday of ordinary time in our readings today get this concept of growth and conversion counting in the first reading Jonah breaks into the lives of a ninevites he has a strong message for them he tells them unless you repent in 40 days he gives them a countdown you will be destroy and what did the ninevites do they turn to the Lord they repent and this ultimately then is the reason that they're spared in the second reading St Paul calls out the Corinthians in a similar manner he tells them the clocks that tick in your time is running out so what for the world in its present form is passing away tells the Corinthians again in a numbered way that they only live for those things that are Eternal they need to look at the world differently weather currently practicing and in the gospel Jesus calls his first followers what does he say to those followers this is the time of fulfillment again we're talking about time the kingdom of God is at hand Jesus comes to those first followers in their daily work they were fishermen and so he comes to them on the seashore and he called them to live differently just St Paul was calling the Corinthian to look at the world differently and Jesus uses his first words in the gospel of Mark this First Gospel to be written to call the apostles to repentance he says repent and believe in the gospel he Proclaim the good news Two Men and two women telling them that they should order their lives in a different way brothers and sisters in this same Jesus comes to each of us today we can't live the feasting of Christmas and Easter we can't even live the Penance of Lent and Advent unless we encounter our Lord here during ordinary time in this season of counting the season of growth ultimately this season of order so let us give ourselves to the Lord this day and asked the Lord that the kingdom would grow in the Silence of each of our hearts

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