Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 26, 2003)

Readings Jon 3: 1-5, 10 Ps 25: 4-9 1 Cor 7: 29-31 Mk 1: 14-20

Suggested Emphasis

"The world as we know it is passing away."

"This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand."

"Reform your lives and believe in the Good News!"

Salesian Perspective

“The world as we know it is passing away.”

Every person, every generation needs to come to grips with the fact that our lives are always changing. No matter how good things may have been in former times, or how good they may be right now, there is always more yet to come. The security of “what is” needs to be open to the uncertainty of “what may come.”

Put another way, we need to constantly reform, refashion and renew our lives.

This goes against our grain. It’s so easy to cling to what we know. It’s so easy to believe that we’ve learned all we need to learn. It’s easy to think that there aren’t any more ways in which we can grow. We are tempted to say that we know, have learned and have grown enough.

Jesus invites us to believe in the Good News, that is, to believe in the power of God’s constant, unchanging love that calls us to learn more about God, ourselves and one another. Jesus calls us to believe that the willingness to reform our lives (with the help of the Holy Spirit) can help us to experience in the changing circumstances, events and relationships of our daily lives more of the justice, the freedom, the reconciliation and the peace that will be unchanging in heaven.

Be willing to change. Be willing to grow. Be willing to learn. Be willing to reform. Be willing to be transformed. Believe that the power of the Reign of God can help you to be more of who and how God calls you to be. Turn away more convincingly from what is evil. Embrace more deeply what is good. In words and example, challenge and encourage one another to do the same.

While the world as we know it is passing away, Jesus promises us that the best is yet to come. Together, you and I can make the best of what is yet to come a reality in our own day by recognizing the opportunities that God provides in each and every present moment our reformation, our transformation and our growth.

Believe in this Good News! Pass it on to others!

Rev. Michael S. Murray, OSFS, is Executive Director of the
De Sales Spirituality Center in Washington, DC