OMELIE / Omelie EN

25 gen 2026

25/01/2025 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

25/01/2025 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity: last day - Sunday of the Word of God

1st reading Is 8:23b - 9:3 * from Psalm 26/27 * 2nd reading 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 * Gospel Mt 4:12-23

We are living in a special moment in the life of the Church: we are united in presenting to God the Father a particular problem that has plagued the lives of believers for centuries. It is the consequence of a lack of consistency in living the faith, a lack of seriousness in practising the Lord Jesus’ commands, a lack of perseverance in carrying the daily cross. All this has erased holiness from the life of the Church, fostering discord, divisions, and factions, making the Divider, the Evil One, who is always ready to ruin and destroy the great works of God, feel at ease.

Saint Paul already had to raise his voice with some of his Christian communities, particularly that of Corinth, as we heard in the second reading. The divisions arose from the sympathies that Christians had for one preacher of the Gospel rather than another. In this way, they showed that they were not in love with Jesus, that they were more attentive to appearance than substance, to their own inclinations than to the Word of the Lord. The apostle had to tell them: no preacher of the Gospel was crucified for you. The one who saves us with his cross is Jesus alone.

Preachers help us know him and love him. By following Jesus, we will be able to overcome our sympathies and remain united with one another, capable of forgetting about ourselves in order to make the unity of the Lord's Church shine forth. He prayed to the Father for this unity. If we want to be pleasing to him, let us do everything possible to cultivate love towards one another. In moments of doubt or difficulty, we will allow ourselves to be guided with humble obedience by those who are appointed as authorities in the community. Jesus himself said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me”.

Today's Gospel passage repeats a prophecy from Isaiah, recalled in the first reading. Jesus begins his preaching in Galilee, assigned to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, a territory inhabited largely by different peoples who had come from afar since the time of the deportation of the Israelites to Mesopotamia. It is therefore a territory where the Word of God is little known and little practised. This is why it is said that these peoples “sit in darkness in a land overshadowed by death”. It is precisely here that “on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen” when Jesus began his preaching after John had been imprisoned.

Let us therefore listen to the Word of Jesus, as the evangelist summarises it for us. He begins by repeating John's proclamation: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”. It is a strong word, with deep and precise meanings. The invitation is to conversion, that is, to a change in the way we think. If the reason for the change in thinking and reasoning depends on how far away in time is the kingdom of heaven, then we can understand and immediately adhere to it with joy.

If the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it means that the king has arrived and is waiting to gather together those who will obey him. We will reason in such a way as to keep an eye on the king, to listen to him and take on his desires, his will, his ways of being meek, humble, merciful, free from the passions common in this world, accepted and advised to all.

How will we do this? The page of the Gospel offers us concrete examples. What is the conversion of those who convert because the kingdom of heaven is near? Let us look at Simon and Andrew, let us observe James and John. Four men, all four seriously engaged in their work. When they see Jesus, the king of the kingdom of heaven, and hear his voice, they no longer think about their work and its tools, nor about their earnings, nor about living in a way to please their relatives. They truly take on the thoughts, desires and ways of Jesus: they follow him.

They follow him physically with their steps, but little by little, with patience and many difficulties, they learn to follow him in overcoming their inner impulses, their likes and dislikes, their desire to stand out, their dreams of excelling, even their desire to avoid hard work and the so-called crosses. Following him in these attitude of humility and meekness is not done immediately; it will take time. Simon, called Peter, knows something about this.

Those who follow Jesus realise that they are “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali”, that they are part of a “people who sit in darkness”, and they feel that a “light has arisen” and that this light has reached them, so much so that they can enjoy immense joy. The Word of God continues to be a light to their steps!

We are experiencing a special moment in the life of the Church: we are united in presenting to God the Father a particular problem that has plagued the lives of believers for centuries. It is the consequence of a lack of consistency in living the faith, a lack of seriousness in practising the commands of the Lord Jesus, a lack of perseverance in carrying the cross of each day. All this has erased holiness from the life of the Church, fostering discord, divisions, and factions, making the Divider, the Evil One, who is always ready to ruin and destroy the great works of God, feel at ease.

St Paul already had to raise his voice with some of his Christian communities, particularly that of Corinth, as we heard in the second reading. The divisions arose from the sympathies that Christians had for one preacher of the Gospel rather than another. In this way, they showed that they were not in love with Jesus, that they were more attentive to form than substance, to their own inclinations than to the Word of the Lord. The apostle had to tell them: no preacher of the Gospel was crucified for you. The one who saves us with his cross is Jesus alone.

Preachers help us to know him and to love him. By following Jesus, we will be able to overcome our sympathies and remain united with one another, capable of denying ourselves in order to make the unity of the Lord's Church shine forth. He prayed to the Father for this unity. If we want to be pleasing to him, let us do everything possible to remain in charity towards one another. In moments of doubt or difficulty, we will allow ourselves to be guided with humble obedience by those who are appointed as authorities in the community. Jesus himself said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me”.

Today's Gospel passage repeats a prophecy from Isaiah, recalled in the first reading. Jesus begins his preaching in Galilee, assigned to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, a territory inhabited largely by different peoples who had come from afar since the time of the deportation of the Israelites to Mesopotamia. It is therefore a territory where the Word of God is little known and little practised. This is why it is said that these peoples “lived in the region and shadow of death”. It is precisely here that “the people who lived in darkness saw a great light” when Jesus began his preaching after John had been imprisoned.

Let us therefore listen to the Word of Jesus, as the evangelist summarises it for us. He begins by repeating John's proclamation: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”. It is a strong word, with deep and precise meanings. The invitation is to conversion, that is, to a change in the way we think. If the reason for the change in thinking and reasoning depends on the nearness of the kingdom of heaven, then we can understand and immediately adhere to it with joy.

If the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it means that the king has arrived and is waiting to gather together those who will obey him. We will reason in such a way as to keep an eye on the king, to listen to him and take on his desires, his will, his ways of being meek, humble, merciful, free from the passions usual in this world, accepted and proposed to all.

How will we do this? The page of the Gospel offers us concrete examples. What is the conversion of those who convert because the kingdom of heaven is near? Let us look at Simon and Andrew, let us observe James and John. Four men, all four seriously engaged in their work. When they see Jesus, the king of the kingdom of heaven, and hear his voice, they no longer think about their work and its tools, nor about their earnings, nor about living to please their relatives. They truly take on the thoughts, desires and ways of Jesus: they follow him.

They follow him physically with their steps, but little by little, with patience and many difficulties, they learn to follow him in overcoming their inner impulses, their likes and dislikes, their desire to stand out, their dreams of excelling, even their desire to avoid hard work and the so-called crosses. Following him in these attitudes of humility and meekness is not done immediately; it will take time. Simon, called Peter, knows something about this.

Those who follow Jesus realise that they are “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali”, that they are part of a “people who walked in darkness”, and they feel that “a light has dawned” and that this light has reached them, so much so that they can enjoy immense joy. The Word of God continues to be a light to their steps!