Going deeper

Sunday, January 26, 2020
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Isaiah 8:23—9:3
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
WHEN Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to settle down in Capernaum, a town by the lake of Galilee, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.
In this way the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali crossed by the Road of the Sea, and you who live by the Jordan, Galilee, land of pagans, listen:
The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone.
From that time on Jesus began to proclaim his message, “Change your ways: the kingdom of heaven is near.”
As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, Jesus called them.
At once they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Jesus deepened the theme of John the Baptist’s preaching – the theme on repentance. Jesus did this by requiring from his followers spiral spiritual growth. As distinguished from linear growth, spiral growth penetrates the inner sanctum of the person evoking changes in his overt acts. Linear growth may be far reaching in terms of practices of piety but it is always shallow in terms of inner change. Where growth is spiral, a person hates even mere occasions of sin. Not so when spiritual growth is linear. Consider the story of some reformed people who slide back so easily because they experiment on their faith by exposing themselves unnecessarily to possibilities of committing sin. Their game plan is to pull out as soon as the possibility of sin begins to turn into reality. This is wishful thinking! Can any human being outsmart the devil?
Flight is still the best way to fight the devil. Those who play with fire perish by the fire. Is there really a difference between being in the fire and staying too long near it? One gets burned in both instances. Those of spiral growth will so hate sin and immediately shy away from any suspicious occasions that probably lead to it. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.