The Third Sunday of the Year

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The Third Sunday of the Year B


When we look at the news or the Newspapers we may get the feeling that there is little or no Good News out there. We may get an understanding that there are so many bad things going on in the world that there is no room for Good News. And what we do is to get sucked into this world of Bad News.  I think that this has been highlighted with the advent of the rolling news on TV.
We are asked in this weekend’s Gospel to “Repent and believe the Good news.” The word Repent means to think again the people of Nineveh in the first reading were asked by Jonah to think again about their behaviour and the way they treated each other. We must constantly think about the way that we treat each other and the way that shows itself as good news for others or as bad news for others. And keep seeking the Lords Forgiveness and return to his love.  But, I think that the problem goes deeper than this. For we are asked to “Repent and believe the Good news.”

The key word that links both of these fundamentals to our faith together is the word “Believe.” And, this is where a lot of people struggle. Do we really believe that we are forgiven by God? That he loves us and this is good news? This belief comes from our image of who we see Jesus as.

Our image of Jesus defines our image of the Church of repentance and of Good news. It can become a blockage to a real and authentic relationship with the person of Jesus. If we see Jesus as a person who is judging us then our relationship with him will be one of always trying to please him. This is possibly the image of Jesus that is presented by the Church of pre Vatican II.

Our relationship with him must come from him being both fully human and fully divine. We must see him in friendship as a real human being with real human emotion: But also the power to forgive sins and heal. The Good News must come from our relationship with him through prayer and study to know the person of Jesus really in our lives. The Post Vatican II Jesus is one of love and acceptance of who we are and where we have come from. Just think of the story of the Prodigal son. We are not judged but wrapped in love.

The Good News then is that we are loved by Jesus totally and unconditionally we just have to Believe it for ourselves and that’s the hard work. 

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