Hearing Christ’s Call in Everyday Moments

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 26, 2020

SCRIPTURE
Is 8:23 – 9::3/1 Cor 1:10-13/Mt 4:12-23

Sr. Rhonda Miska, OP

PREACHING
Place yourself in the fishing boat with Peter and Andrew. You are out on the water, throwing out your nets and hauling them back in. This work is what you did yesterday, what you did last year, what you did five years ago, and what you imagine you will be doing tomorrow.

Now, place yourself with James and John, alongside Zebedee in another boat. You are untangling and mending your fishing nets, which are smelly and worn. The work is slow and tedious. This work is what you did yesterday, what you did last year, what you did five years ago, and what you imagine you will be doing tomorrow.

Then, Jesus appears and says, “Come after me.” At that moment, everything changes. Fishing and mending nets--this work was their daily grind. When Jesus called them to a radically new way of life, they weren’t in the temple or on a mountaintop. It wasn’t the Sabbath. It was just another day of doing what they always did.

Mujerista theologian Ada Maria Isazi-Diaz wrote of finding God in lo cotidiano--in the “everyday.” Sometimes it’s tempting to think in order to hear God’s voice we need to make a pilgrimage, go on a long retreat, or find a gorgeous, silent chapel. Of course, these are good things. Yet today’s Gospel reveals hearing Christ’s call in everyday life--in the routine, the mundane, the ordinary.

When have you heard the call of Christ in your daily life and responded in faith? 

Whether in your morning commute to the office, doing daily chores, or sitting down to eat with family or community, where might Jesus call you to follow Him today?

Sister Rhonda Miska, OP