If we want to walk with Jesus on the path He shows us, we must be willing to leave everything behind.
Selvaraj Soosaimanikam : Vatican
(Texts I. Isa 9:1-4 II. 1 Cor 1:10-13,17 III. Matt 4:12-23)
Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Lent. Today’s sermons have two main themes. First of all, God the Father shines light on his son Jesus as the savior of the people of Israel who are suffering in darkness. Secondly, he calls us to shine as workers who take the Savior Jesus to the world.
01. Contempt and superiority
The first part of today’s first reading is repeated in the Gospel reading. There is a very important connection between these two. Now let us read the first part of the first verse. In the past the Lord had brought the nation of Zebulun and the nation of Naphtali into contempt; Later, He will exalt the land beyond Jordan, the Gentile land of Galilee. The people walking in the car saw the light; A blaze of light has dawned upon the inhabitants of a land shrouded in the shadow of death. And in the Gospel passage, Jesus heard of John’s arrest and left for Galilee. He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, on the coast of Zebulun and Naphtali. that, Then the following promise spoken by the Prophet Isaiah was thus fulfilled is also exemplified.
To illustrate this let us now recall what happened in the Old Testament. That is, when the people of Israel reached the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, parts of the land were given to the 12 tribes. Zebulun gave them to the nations other than Naphtali after driving out the foreign peoples who were already living there. But he could not drive out the foreign people from the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. Therefore, when Joshua gave these two lands to the people of Israel, Joshua told them to live together with the foreign people there. Therefore, the people of Israel who went to these two countries had to live together with those foreign people. This situation may even have been an insult to the people of Israel. Also, both of these countries are beyond the Jordan in the Galilee region. And ‘Ocean Passage!’ It has also been said. So, it has been a big trade road connecting Israel and other countries like Egypt. Apart from that, this street has also been a gathering place for all castes. That is why Jesus did not begin his gospel work in the Temple of Jerusalem to benefit only the Jewish people, but to reach out to all nations and peoples. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” Shouting that, he begins his social work in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali where all races live. Because of this, when Joseph and Mother Mary brought the baby Jesus to the temple, carrying the baby in their arms, My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have arranged for all people to see. This is the light that gives revelation to other races; This is the glory of your people Israel (Luke 2:30-33) says Simeon. Therefore, today’s first thought makes it clear to us that like Jesus, we should work for everyone regardless of caste, religion, race and language.
02. Call to work for theocracy
The second part of the Gospel is where Jesus calls his disciples to the work of theocracy. That is, fishermen are given a new task of catching humans. Also, when Jesus called the first disciples, we see them leave everything behind and follow him without making any excuses. That is, all other things became irrelevant to them because Jesus came first. So let’s think about why I am called, for whom I am called, and in what environment I am called to work.
Tomas Catena, affectionately known as Tom, is hailed as the number one doctor in the world today. Mother of Mercy Hospital is the only hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Although there are a few health centers, there are no doctors here. Approximately 750,000 people living within that 90 mile radius rely on the ‘Mother of Mercy’ hospital. Among them all, there is only one doctor on duty, Tomas Catena. Even so, he is not the master of that land. He is an American. Nuba, a war-torn region. It is not the enemy country that is bombing here. It is the government of Sudan. In a landscape where the government is killing its own people, Tom is the one who has overcome the fear of death and dedicated his life to the medical work of saving the lives of innocent Sudanese people with humanity. Tom was born in Amsterdam, Missouri, USA. Parents, Jenny-Nancy. They had a total of seven children. Tom Catena is the fifth born. He was pious from childhood. He was passionate about helping others. Loved reading Bible stories. In particular, he was deeply inspired by the life of St. Francis of Assisi.
Even though he completed his engineering studies, Tom’s mind was always about ‘people work’. Tom enrolled in medical school at Duke University in North Carolina after receiving a NEVI Scholarship. During his fourth year of medical studies, he spent two months in Kenya doing clinical work. He does not know the language of Kenya. But the pitiful faces of those people, the longing that filled them, the sickness, the pain, and the sense of gratitude that grew in their eyes when they got relief affected him more. Then Dr. Tom said, ‘This is my path, this is my mission, this is the life I want’! He firmly decided. In 1999, he started his work in a hospital in a village in Kenya with no basic facilities, after two years there he worked for six years at St. Mary’s Hospital in Nairobi. It was then that he began to understand each and every one of the Dark Continent’s tribulations. His love, affection and concern for the black people continued to grow.
In 2007, the area he chose for his next medical assignment was ‘Kitel’, a town surrounded by the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, where there was no sign of progress. There is no hospital for miles around. The Vedhapothak organization provided financial assistance. People were sweating. Stones brought from the Nuba Mountains helped build the hospital. The hospital with 300 beds, examination room, X-ray and other facilities started functioning from March 2008. Tom’s income is only $350 a month provided by the Bible Society. Ignoring all that, he continued his work there as a ‘people’s doctor’. Till 2011 there was no major problem. But when ‘South Sudan’ seceded from Sudan, trouble began in the Nuba.
The Sudanese government started the Nuba genocide in 2011. Suddenly fighter planes started flying and dropping bombs in bunches and killing people. In this case, Tom often thinks that one day the hospital may also be bombed. That too happened in May 2014. Around 11 bombs fell and exploded in the hospital premises. All the patients lay down on the ground in panic. They ran and hid in the bunkers they had cut for safety. Not only the people but also Doctor Tom. Fortunately there were no casualties. But there was a feeling of approaching death. Even in that context, ‘What is the point?’ He did not want to leave his mother. ‘If not us, who will treat them?’ Tom has been working till date with a decisive thought that ‘my job is to clear these people’.
Whether the Nuba were Christians or Muslims, their daily prayer was, ‘O God! May our Dr. Tom be well. He should not have any time’. The words of the black Christians living there are all emotional. ‘What did Jesus do? healed the sick; He made those who could not walk walk; He gave sight to the blind. That’s what our Dr. Tom is doing here. Our Jesus is Dr. Tom!’ Yes, our Pope Francis is going to visit Sudan, where such people live, at the beginning of February.
In today’s ascetic life, we are fighting for glory and fame in vain to achieve what I want, to have the position I want, to have money-making platforms and work platforms. Thus, we create divisions and problems not only in the ascetic life, but also in the life of the common people. Therefore, in today’s second reading, Brothers and sisters, this is what I beg you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Be like-minded. Let there be no divisions among yourselves. Be of one mind and one purpose Paulatier insists that Jesus calls each one of us individually by name for the theocratic work of uniting all the people of this world in the way of his disciples. What is our answer? Are we willing to side with Satan who has worldly values? Or, do we want to stand on the side of Jesus who has the values of theocracy? Let’s choose clearly. Let us pray to the Lord for the blessings on this day.