Liturgy of the Sunday

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
Sunday of the Word of God. Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Europe and the Americas.

First Reading

Jonah 3,1-5.10

The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah a second time. 'Up!' he said, 'Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to it as I shall tell you.' Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare; to cross it took three days. Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city and then proclaimed, 'Only forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.' And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which he had threatened to bring on them, and did not bring it.

Psalmody

Psalm 24

Antiphon

Lord, remember your great mercy and love.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
I trust you, let me not be disappointed;
do not let my enemies triumph.

Those who hope in you shall not be disappointed,
but only those who wantonly break faith.

Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.

Make me walk in your truth and teach me;
for you are God my saviour.
In you I hope all day long

Remember your mercy, Lord.,
and the love you have shown of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth.
In your love remember me
because of your goodness, O Lord.

The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,

He guides the humble in the right path;
He teaches his ways to the poor.

His ways are faithfulness and love
for those who keep his covenant and will.

Lord, for the sake of your name
forgive my guilt; for it is great.

If anyone fears the Lord
he will show him the path he should choose.

His soul shall live in happiness
and his children shall possess the land.

The Lord's friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.

My eyes are always on the Lord;
for he rescues my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and have mercy
for I am lonely and poor.

Relieve the anguish of my heart
and set me free from my distress.

See my affliction and my toil
and take all my sins away.

See how many are my foes;
how violent their hatred for me.

Preserve my life and rescue me.
Do not disappoint me, you are my refuge.

May innocence and uprightness protect me :
for my hope is in you, O Lord.

Redeem Israel, O God,
from all its distress.

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 7,29-31

What I mean, brothers, is that the time has become limited, and from now on, those who have spouses should live as though they had none; and those who mourn as though they were not mourning; those who enjoy life as though they did not enjoy it; those who have been buying property as though they had no possessions; and those who are involved with the world as though they were people not engrossed in it. Because this world as we know it is passing away.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 1,14-20

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the gospel from God saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.' As he was walking along by the Lake of Galilee he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net in the lake -- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you into fishers of people.' And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending the nets. At once he called them and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Word. It is a particularly meaningful celebration that has its roots in the Second Vatican Council. The Council Fathers hoped that the Bible would return into the hands of the faithful, of every believer. In the church of Sant'Egidio the two side altars - the one of the Word of God with the Bibles in different languages and the one of the poor with the crosses - are facing each other. They remind us of fidelity to these two inseparable worships, two indispensable loves. In addition to the feast of the Word of God, Pope Francis wanted the feast of the poor to be celebrated every year. This feast of the Word falls on the third Sunday of ordinary time in which the Liturgy proposes the beginning of the preaching of Jesus. And the other, that of the poor, closes the liturgical year with its penultimate Sunday. Two feasts that remind us of the year of the Church as the following of Jesus, from the beginning of his ministry to the fullness of the Kingdom.
We could say that the Gospel proclaimed to us shows to us the origin of this feast. The word of the prophet had been imprisoned by Herod. That voice that cried out in the desert no longer resounded. But Jesus starts again from the Baptist's words: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." Conversion begins when the Gospel reaches the heart. From here a new life begins. Indeed, from that day on the shores of the Sea of Galilee until today - it is the uninterrupted witness of the Church - the Word of God continues to change the hearts and makes them good and strong for goodness. Simon and Andrew, James and John, accepted Jesus' invitation, followed him and became his disciples. They listened to him two by two, and together - even only four of them - they followed the Master. It is like that every time. Jesus did not make refined speeches to them. He spoke a language that they, as fishermen, could immediately understand: "Come after me, I will make you fishermen of men." They understood that he had called them for a new fishing, and they "immediately left the nets and followed him." The Gospel, heard together, two by two, created that small fraternity that has come down to us.
That ancient scene - narrated with sobriety as if to underline its exemplariness - is re-proposed to us in this Feast of the Word. The Lord calls us once again to become fishermen of people in the sea of the numerous and populous Galilee of this world. He calls us with a new urgency, for a bolder and more creative generosity. Many are waiting for a word that touches their hearts. The Lord asks us to frequent the Word of God even more, to listen to it together: and we will all grow in the intelligence and love of the Lord and of the poor.