3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

1st Reading                   Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm                              27:1,4,13-14 (R.1a)

R:// "The Lord is my light and my salvation"

2nd Reading                1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17

Gospel                            Matthew 4:12-23

SALVATION BEGINS WHERE HISTORY REMEMBERS PAIN

Friends, Peace and Goodness! We are already getting deeper into the Season of Ordinary Time, and today is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A). Today is also the last Sunday of the month of January. What it means is that we have enjoyed the providence of God and what should fill our hearts should be thanksgiving. In a unique way, today is designated as Sunday of the Word of God. This observance was instituted by Pope Francis on 30 September 2019 (Memorial of St. Jerome) to help us to reawaken the necessity and urgency of the Word of God in our lives. 

Let us pay close attention to the Word of God for this Sunday. The first reading is from Isaiah 9:1-4, and the Gospel passage is Matthew 4:12-23. Let us start with the first reading.

The first reading (Isaiah 9:1-4) concludes a section marked by judgement and gloom, especially the threat of Assyrian domination in the 8th Century BCE. In fact, the first reading falls within Proto-Isaiah (Isa. 1-39), talking about the Assyrian invasion of Israel. The passage of Isaiah today recalls the occurrences of that event, yet brings out a message of hope. Let us attend to three important details. 

The first thing is that the author mentions the lands of Zebulun and Napthtali as lands that were brought into contempt in former times. (Isa. 9:1). Let us unpack that statement. The lands of Zebulun and Napthtali were geographically positioned to the extreme north of Israel. In fact, they belong to Northern Israel. The problem was that their positioning became a disadvantage. Why? When the Asssyrians were about attacking Israel, they were the first to experience it. They were the first territories to be devastated by Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). Know that those lands would experience the oppression in its fulness. Isaiah's startling proclamation is that in the latter time, they tell become glorious. Whatever was once shamed by invasion becomes the first recipient of divine glory. Even in the places where oppression was gravely felt, God's light reached there first. 

The second detail we should focus on is the state in which Zebulun and Napthtali were. The author says they were in a state of "contempt" Some translations would have "distress" and others would have "anguish". I think the original Hebrew will help us vividly see what was happening. The Hebrew word translated is "muʿāq". Muʿāq is a condition, not a momentary feeling. It is a kind of silent affliction, one that has become normalised. It is a kind of oppressive state that is normalised because there is nothing that can be done about it. It is a weight that one is put under. For them, it included a wide range of exploitation — economic exploitation, loss of autonomy, humiliation, cultural erosion. muʿāq is a structural misery. Precisely, these are the places that are to experience GLORY (kābôd). Interestingly, the Hebrew word translated as Glory, kābôd, means "heaviness". The implication is that a people crushed by pressure are promised weight. What oppressed them was heavy to the extent that it became a condition. Now, what dignifies them will be heavier. Herein, we see how God replaces the weight of oppression with the weight of glory. In fact, God's light shines in places of long-standing, normalised suffering. 

The third detail that clarifies the text of the first reading lies in the statement, "The people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light". This also helps us understand the real state of oppression. The author says they "walked in darkness" (ha-hōlěkîm bahōšek — the ones walking in darkness). This is about duration. He did not say they sat in it. What does it mean "to walk"? The author uses the Hebrew word "hōlěk". That word means merely using one's legs to walk. It means to conduct one's life according to a certain manner of life. It is a way of life, a kind of culture. Over time, they have learnt how to conduct themselves and live in the dark. Darkness has become their normal environment. In fact, they were one with the dark, looking like it. 

The darkness was the Assyrian catastrophe. It became a sustained condition. There was nothing they could do about it. They simply had to see it as a new way of life. Hardship had become a routine, injustice felt permanent, and survival replaced hope in the darkness of poverty without explanation, fear without threat, humiliation without protest, absence of guidance, and disorientation. These are the things they normalised as a way of life. Very sad. The darkness was so powerful. How? Isaiah never says the people chose darkness. They were enveloped by it. If it was a choice, they could have equally chosen to leave it. They were rendered powerless by it. Therefore, salvation must come as an intervention, not by a reward. Salvation comes when people are still walking in the dark. Only God becomes their intervention. 

The Gospel from Matthew 4:12-23 harmonizes with the first reading. This is a natural phenomenon in Ordinary Time. More than that, the Gospel fulfils the promises of the first reading. Matthew just told us the temptation of Jesus (Matt. 4:1-11). He leads us to the beginning of Jesus' Galilean Ministry. Jesus moves from private victory over Satan to public confrontation with the broken world. However, I want you to notice something interesting happening here. The first reading situates Zebulun and Naphtali within the region of Galilee. The Gospel also has Jesus start his ministry in Galilee. This is not accidental. Jesus settles in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew reads geography providentially. Places carry deep theological meaning. The Messiah deliberately inhabits the wounded land once devastated by Assyria. Salvation begins where history remepmbers pain. In fact, the author of the Gospel according to Matthew notes the moment of Jesus to that region in reference to the fulfilment of what the prophet Isaiah said. Thus, "Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned.’ This is clearly in the first reading. 

Jesus withdrawal as a result of hearing of the arrest of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12) was not out of fear. It was a strategy. The verb translated as "withdrew" is the Greek word "anachōreō". This word does not imply escape. It rather suggests purposeful relocation. Jesus is not retreating but repositioning. This act relays to us that God's plan advances through discernment, not impulsive confrontation. That was a reason why he had to withdraw into Galilee. 

There were a few things he did in Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, as a way of bringing himself, God's light, to them. Remember that they were enveloped in a kind of darkness that had become their way of life. They normalised it without knowing. It will take an external powerful force to bring them to consciousness. Jesus is God's intervention. The first thing he tells them is "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 4: 17). Over time, this darkness also took on a moral and spiritual dimension, including sin. The call to Repent would be a drive towards consciousness. Only one who is not subject to the darkness has the capacity to bring those in it to consciousness. The first thing we should do as a way of leaving the dark, of whatever kind we may be experiencing, is to heed the call to consciousness and the call to return. This 

The second thing Jesus did was that it was in that very place that he chose four of his apostles — Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James and John, Sons of Zebedee. The choice of these tells us that God's choices can come from unexpected places of life, even in the darkest places and in the most devastated situations. 

Finally, it is fascinating what James and John were doing when they were called. They were "mending their nets". They are doing repair work. They were repairing what sustained life. The author subtly relays to us their attempt to work on livelihood. They were working on life. We could see the call to repentance already working out. 

May these thoughts from the Readings of the day nourish our understanding and enrich our meditations

Pax et Bonum