Sunday 26 January 2020
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Home to the Southend Ordinariate Mission
Parish Masses at 8.30am 10.15am and 6pm.
at St. Peter's Catholic Church SS9 4BX
SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD
Home to the Southend Ordinariate Mission
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History Redeemed: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 8:23–9:3 Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14 1 Corinthians 1:10–13, 17 Matthew 4:12–23
Today’s Liturgy gives us a lesson in ancient Israelite geography and history.
Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s First Reading is quoted by Matthew in
today’s Gospel. Both intend to recall the apparent fall of the
everlasting kingdom promised to David (see 2 Samuel 7:12–13; Psalm 89; 132:11–12).
Eight centuries before Christ, that part of the kingdom where the
tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali lived was attacked by the Assyrians, and
the tribes were hauled off into captivity (see 2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26).
It marked the beginning of the kingdom’s end. It finally crumbled in
the sixth century BC, when Jerusalem was seized by Babylon and the
remaining tribes were driven into exile (see 2 Kings 24:14).
Isaiah prophesied that Zebulun and Naphtali, the lands first to be
degraded, would be the first to see the light of God’s salvation. Jesus
today fulfills that prophecy—announcing the restoration of David’s
kingdom at precisely the spot where the kingdom began to fall.
His Gospel of the Kingdom includes not only the twelve tribes of
Israel but all the nations—symbolized by the “Galilee of the Nations.”
Calling His first disciples, two fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, He
appoints them to be “fishers of men”—gathering people from the ends of
the earth.
They are to preach the Gospel, Paul says in today’s Epistle, to unite
all peoples in the same mind and in the same purpose—in a worldwide
kingdom of God.
By their preaching, Isaiah’s promise has been delivered. A world in
darkness has seen the light. The yoke of slavery and sin, borne by
humanity since time began, has been smashed.
And we are able now, as we sing in today’s Psalm, to dwell in the house of the Lord, to worship Him in the land of the living.
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