Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sometimes the name of a place is used, but then no one really knows where it is. For example, people will still sometimes say, “She lives to Timbuktu,” to express that the woman lives very far away. But if you ask people where Timbuktu is, most people don’t know, other than the fact that it’s far away. Other people might think it’s a made-up city. In fact, Timbuktu is a real city in the West African country of Mali. Now, as Americans aren’t always the best at geography, even saying it’s in Mali in West Africa might not help. So, hopefully to make it clearer, Mali is north of the countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana. If you’re still not clear where Timbuktu is, you can google it when you get home.
For Jews hearing about the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, they would have understood where that was. We, as 21st century Americans, probably just glossed over those names, and figured that they are some weird names from a time long past. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the 12 sons of Jacob, also known as Israel. Long after they died, the tribes that bore their names received land in the Promised Land. They were not the strongest tribes or the most distinguished for anything, and they became the part of Israel that broke away after King Solomon died. They were later conquered by the Assyrians, and mixed Judaism with the pagan religions. For observant Jews, those lands were backward, not faithful, and not a destination. We might use the term “Hicksville” to describe it.
But the Prophet Isaiah promised that God, after degrading those lands, would give it a great light, to bring it out of darkness. God would give them great joy, as at a harvest festival, and would end their slavery. God promises good things for those who, for centuries, were not seen as entitled to good things.
That promise was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus goes to Capernaum, “in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,” to preach the Gospel, saying, “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Jesus is the one who is the Light of the World, and gives them light by revealing the good news of salvation in Him. Jesus cures the sick and expels demons, something that would cause anyone to rejoice. And Jesus would eventually destroy the slavery of sin by His death on the cross. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy to “Hicksville.” While Jerusalem was the place to be because of the temple, and was the center of religious life for any Jew, God, in the Person of Jesus, goes to places that other religious leaders had long since abandoned.
And while in “Hicksville,” Jesus begins to form His new Church. He choses Twelve Apostles, some of whose names we begin to hear at the end of today’s Gospel: Simon, later called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, as well as James and John, the sons of Zebedee. These four are fisherman. They are not well educated, and while they practiced Judaism, they were not scholars of it. None of them were rabbis or scribes.
In one sense, as people who live in the greater-Flint area, we should be able to relate to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. Flint may not be “Hicksville,” but it’s not exactly the top destination of Michigan. Generally, people are not climbing over each other to move into Flint, as we all well know. But that does not mean that God has abandoned us. To the contrary, God still brings light to people who walk in darkness, and still wants to crush the slavery of sin in our lives.
But God is also calling you to build up the Church. While we priests do our best to support the faithful with the graces which flow from the sacramental life of the Church, it is the faithful who are called in particular to spread the Gospel and build up the Church. It is by encountering Christ, even here in Flint, which strengthens us to live our faith, not just for an hour on Sundays, but seven days a week in our homes and workplaces. Faith sharing groups like ARISE are meant to strengthen our faith and give us the courage to be sent out, which in Greek comes from the word 𝛂𝛑𝛐𝛔𝛕𝛐𝛌𝛐𝛊, which means those who are sent out.
The strength of this parish comes from your response to God’s grace. If you engage your faith, and make it something that is not only about Sundays, we will be a strong parish. If we are willing to be challenged to conform our lives more closely to Jesus, and then to be sent out to show and tell others about that transformation in our lives, then Flint will become a place of blessing, a place Jesus is at work. God calls us to repent and spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Will we respond to God’s call?