At first glance the Gospel we just heard sounds a lot like last week, they both sound like when the Apostles first start to follow Jesus, with Andrew and Simon Peter mentioned in both. However we know that it is a different episode, because last week it said, “John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.” (John 1:35-42)
Then this week, the Gospel we just heard says, “After John [the Baptist] had been arrested,” so we can see they are two different stories. What that tells us is that last week, even though Andrew and Simon Peter believed Jesus was the Messiah, they still left Him at some point and went back to their old way of life. They went back to their lives as fishermen.
There is always that temptation to go back to our former way of life, to return to our sin, that temptation, even though we know it won’t fulfill us, those sinful temptations are very present. So Jesus tells us the same thing He told the people in Galilee two thousand years ago: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
“Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Two steps, but it probably is the other way around, first we believe in the Gospel, or in other words we believe in the Good News, the Good News that Jesus came as the Messiah, suffering, dying, and rising from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins. (Our savior.)
When we believe that Good News, we believe that we too will rise from the dead, it is then that we can truly repent, truly change our ways, and hopefully, with the help of God, stay with Jesus, not leaving Him to go back to our former ways.
A key piece of this was Jesus’ second line there when He said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” That means it is so close that we can actually touch the kingdom of God, right? Well what did that mean then, and what does it mean for us today?
Well, I have said this before, that I believe it means we are already living in the Kingdom of God in a real sense right now, that often we believe the Kingdom is in Heaven, but Heaven starts here, our actions and how we live our lives starts our journey towards Heaven now, so we are already choosing to live in the Kingdom of God or not.
But another way to take this “kingdom of God is at hand” statement is that Jesus Christ is the Kingdom of God. To see and behold Jesus is to experience the Kingdom, that is what Heaven will be like right? That's what we will have in Heaven, seeing God face to face. So when He arrived in Galilee, He was saying the Kingdom is here, you can see me face to face.
What does that mean for us now? “The kingdom of God is at hand” in the Sacraments, that’s one way for sure, and nowhere is that more clear than when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist. He is very much “at hand” here at communion, we have only to believe and receive Him.
In fact, I woke up this morning and started doing my daily prayers that all priests made a promise to pray when we were ordained, and one of the readings that the Church gave us this morning was from the “Constitution on the sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council” which was written about 60 years ago, and it said this:
Christ is always present to his Church, especially in the actions of the liturgy. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, in the person of the minister (it is the same Christ who formerly offered himself on the cross that now offers by the ministry of priests) and most of all under the Eucharistic species. He is present in the sacraments by his power, in such a way that when someone baptizes, Christ himself baptizes. He is present in his word, for it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Finally, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he himself promised: Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.
So I felt that was quite appropriate for us today, and since today is Sunday of the Word of God, I want to focus on that part in the middle that said “He is present in his word, for it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church.”
It is clear that Jesus is present in the Bible, He is “at hand” in the Word. If we have our own Bible, Jesus is always present to us in that way. The Old Testament is filled with the prophecy of His coming as the Messiah, and the New Testament is the story of His time on earth and what the disciples did after the Resurrection.
If we want to experience the Kingdom of God more in our daily lives, it is imperative that we read our Bibles daily. It is so very important that we become familiar with the Word of God in order to experience the Kingdom more right here, which is really to know Jesus more & more.
Andrew and Simon Peter were very familiar with the Word of God, you can tell this because they left everything they had - “they abandoned their nets and followed him.” They knew the prophecy from Jeremiah that said “I will send many fishermen to catch them.” (Jeremiah 16:16) So when Jesus called them to be fishers of men, this was in line with what they already knew from scripture, they were formed by God’s word and were ready to act.
God is calling us to a greater level of holiness, to do greater things for His Kingdom. It is tempting to go back to our former ways of life, so we must remain with Jesus, keeping Him at hand in the Sacraments, keeping Him “at hand” in the Word by reading the Bible every day.
The Sacraments and the Bible are gifts to us to help us persevere in our temptation, and help us grow in holiness as we approach our heavenly home. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Paul told us in the second reading today “the time is running out.” Don’t waste this time. Read the daily readings, or start reading the bible word for word, starting with the New Testament, being formed by His Word.
If you don’t have a bible, especially a Catholic Bible (NAB or RSV), please let me know. I’ve always wanted to buy Bibles for everyone in the parish but just haven’t pulled the trigger, but I’d be more likely to if there was interest, definitely if there is a need. “This is the time of fulfillment” for our lives, God is calling us to know Him more and to remain with Him forever, and that starts here and now if we choose to follow.