Pope Francis wanted the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time to be dedicated “to the celebration, reflection and dissemination of the Word of God”. We are thus offered a peculiar perspective to approach biblical texts today. The call of the first disciples is more than a story of a vocation: it is the revelation of what happens to a person when he accepts the word of the Lord and lets himself be transformed. Jesus proclaims the Gospel and that the Kingdom is close to the ordinary life of the people. His word contains the imperative of the call, but above all the future of the promise. “I will make you become” is the secret of a Word that works effectively in the life of those who welcome it with faith. After the initial rebellion, Jonah also acts “according to the word of the Lord”. His obedience to him will allow the Ninevites to convert, just as he had already converted the attitude of Jonah. The Word becomes effective when those who announce it allow themselves to be personally transformed. The figure of this world passes by, exclaims Paul writing to the Corinthians. What does not pass is the word of God, Jesus affirms in the eschatological discourses. The Word remains because it is founded on God’s faithfulness; yet, in order to radiate into history in all its beauty and fruitfulness, he needs people who, like the first disciples, are willing to play their whole life on his promise.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey