THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK FROM ST. AUGUSTINE SPIRITUALITY CENTER
Laredo, Texas January 21-27, 2024
Sister Rosemarie Goins, a Felician Franciscan Sister
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Jonah 3:1-5,10. Psalm 25:405,6-7,8-9. Corinthians 7:29-31.
Mark 1:14-20.
Would we just pick up everything or just nothing and follow a strange man? Simon, Andrew, James and John really knew very little or if anything about Jesus. They hardly knew his name. Andrew had heard John the Baptist refer to him as the “Lamb of God.” He was the first to believe. Perhaps, as they were mending their nets, Andrew was waxing long and strong about the possibility that this man was the One.
Whatever the motivation, just the calling of their names propelled them into a future of amazement and great hope.
Jonah heard God’s call to go and call Nineveh to repentance. We know from the later story that Jonah was upset that God did not punish them for their sinfulness. He wanted to see them wiped from the earth. Their repentance and sorrow did not impress him; he sat under a tree and pouted. That’s just like us human beings. We can be very unforgiving and hold a grudge for years, even though someone may at last say that they are sorry. I recently heard a friend tell me about the anger and unforgiveness of one of her children, who felt that she was treated badly, as a child and not loved like her siblings. Unfortunately, she is allowing this to color her whole world with negativity. How much happier she would be, if she opened her heart in compassion and forgiveness. Life is too short to drag around past wrongs. They only weigh us down and remove the joy that we can have in life. Life is to be lived with love-the three L’s of happiness. Paul also cautions us about the shortness of life. Each precious moment of our existence on this planet needs to be treasured. “Time is running out” for each of us. We have no time to be crabby, inconsiderate, witchy, unforgiving and superior toward others. Psalm 25 speaks to us about the “goodness and uprightness” of God. If we listen, it is God who “teaches us the path of truth and justice.” So, let us jump out of our “boats” and follow Jesus.
“Teach me your ways, O Lord,” Psalm 25