The Time is Running Out: Repent!

Gospel Reflection for January 21, 2024 - Mark 1:14-20

But when John had been put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God’s kingdom: The appointed time has come, he said, and the kingdom of God is near at hand; repent, and believe the gospel. And as he passed along the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon’s brother Andrew casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen); Jesus said to them, Come and follow me; I will make you into fishers of men. And they dropped their nets immediately, and followed him. Then he went a little further, and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; these too were in their boat, repairing their nets; all at once he called them, and they, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, turned aside after him. (Mark 1:14-20 Knox Translation)

The readings for this Sunday should resonate with all Christians. The state of the Church in the world today is like that of Jonah, called by God to preach to the pagan city of Ninevah. The modern world, like Ninevah, is enslaved to sin, clouded in the darkness of lies and deception from Satan taught to them by all the heresies, false religions and atheistic ideologies which have become the established faith of society. From childhood, especially through public school and the media, we are taught to deny everything that Christ has given in the Deposit of Faith to His Church: the spousal meaning of the body, the dignity of the human person, the nature of Creation as a gift from God to man, the transcendence of truth, goodness and beauty, the objectivity and universality of the moral law, the infallible authority of the Magisterium, etc. Nothing is more hated in the modern world than the Catholic Church – even by many of its members.

We are buffeted, like a ship in a storm, from all sides by these forces, even within the Church, and it leads many to succumb to them, to abandon the Faith either for some supposedly “purer” religion or else to embrace the easy falsehoods and hedonistic pleasures of the world. Others may become like Jonah, who resisted God’s call to evangelize the pagans, believing that they were unworthy to hear the Word of God and be saved from the impending doom of their damnation. But this is not what Christ has called His disciples to do. We are baptized so that we may lead others to baptism. (Mt 28:19) Love is not selfish or self-enclosed: it is intrinsically effusive and generous, acting within the freedom that comes from giving oneself to others, and there is no greater love among men than to offer one another the healing balm of God’s justice and mercy.

Despite what many believe today, this correction by God’s justice and the reception of His mercy cannot be forced on people; it must be freely accepted and lived out through an authentic transformation of the heart in order to be real. Sanctification is not a one-time act; it is a lifelong process of conforming ourselves more and more to God through the grace of the Holy Ghost acting within us, freeing us from the constraints of sin and liberating us to love God and neighbor “in truth and charity”, (2 Jn 1:3) just as He loved us by pouring Himself out as a libation on the altar of the Cross. Therefore He set the model for discipleship: “If any man has a mind to come my way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)

The first words of St. John the Baptist and Our Lord in their ministries was not “all are welcome,” or “I cordially invite you, if you feel like it, to follow me” or “your sins are not actually sins – come just as you are!” No – both uttered the profound command: Repent! This is the same cry that must come from Christians today, like Jonah in Ninevah.

For by the net of holy preaching they drew fish, that is, men, from the depths of the sea, that is, of infidelity, to the light of faith. Wonderful indeed is this fishing! for fishes when they are caught, soon after die; when men are caught by the word of preaching, they rather are made alive. (Remigius, Catena Aurea)

Little is more uncomfortable, or “cringe” to use the popular term, than this, especially in the modern world where religion and morality are considered private affairs and where correction is seen as judgmentally forcing your uncertain opinions and tastes onto others. But this is not the truth of the Faith or the meaning of evangelization. The world must be guided by the Holy Ghost, who comes “to prove the world wrong, about sin,” (Jn 16:8) if it will ever turn to Christ and be saved from eternal damnation. The stakes are high and the time is short for each one of us. The first disciples knew this and they were willing to forsake their former lives to follow Christ and become fishers of men. We must answer this same baptismal vocation today, renouncing all that separates us from Christ and prevents His love from living within us, whether our sins, the lies of the world or simple complacency, and instead be willing to suffer the persecution and martyrdom of the saints for the sake of Christ.

For he must repent, who would keep close to eternal good, that is, to the kingdom of God. For he who would have the kernel, breaks the shell; the sweetness of the apple makes up for the bitterness of its root; the hope of gain makes the dangers of the sea pleasant; the hope of health takes away from the painfulness of medicine. They are able worthily to proclaim the preaching of Christ who have deserved to attain to the reward of forgiveness; and therefore after He has said, Repent, He subjoins, and believe the Gospel. For unless ye have believed, ye shall not understand. (Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea)

For this Sunday, as Pope Francis has called us to pray for Christian reunification, may we remember that the world will be brought to Christ not through compromise with the world or blessing sin but by firmly upholding the truths of the Faith, by the love of the saints and by the power of beauty.