Please read this passage before reading the homily.
John baptized Jesus in Galilee. Then John continued baptizing in Galilee while Jesus went to Judea. After John’s arrest, Jesus returned to Galilee. John was Jesus’ teacher and Jesus wanted to continue the work of his teacher John. At that time, Jesus was preaching, “Repent” as John had done. Later, Jesus changed his message and began to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, and to cure all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.
I see that Jesus experienced a first call that he was to preach the same message as John, “Repent”, and later to preach the good news of the kingdom of God and healing of all kinds of sickness and disease among the people. Like us, Jesus experienced the God’s call to him step by step, gradually.
The land Zebulun and Naphtali were close to Bethlehem and Nazareth. It was part of the tribes of Israel and were the first part to be exiled at the time of the Babylonian Exile. With the coming of Jesus, this land of darkness and gloom saw the great light of God.
God called Jesus first to learn from John and then to preach the kingdom, heal the sick, forgive sins, and make everyone members of God’s family.
God calls us in the same way, gradually. God’s calling us happens the way a relationship grows. A person meets another, starts dating, first as a boy/girl-friend, then as engaged, then as a spouse, and then as a mature person. First, we are called to repentance, then to preach, and lastly, to be perfect.
God has a sense of humor. God makes fishers of fish into fishers of people and makes sinners into fishers of his family (in Spanish the word for fishermen has an additional c that the word for sinners does not have). God makes our sins vehicles of grace for us and for others.
God sent Jesus to Galilee to preach repentance. God sent him to the whole of Israel to bring everyone into the fulness of God’s kingdom. God sends us into our Galilees and into our definitive work using our sins and our talents for God’s glory.