Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Let us pray to God our Father that the light of his Son Jesus Christ may bring hope and salvation to all. Let us pray: R/ Let the light of Christ shine on us.

–   That the People of God may in this world be like a great light shining in the darkness; that they may be men and women and children committed to build up a better world, let us pray: R/ Let the light of Christ shine on us.

–   That the leaders of the world may bring rays of hope into the lives of those who suffer by giving justice to the oppressed, human dignity to every person, aid and comfort to those who cannot help themselves, let us pray: R/ Let the light of Christ shine on us.

–   That peace and unity may brighten our homes, all our human communities, our nation, and that there may be no polarizations in the Christian community, let us pray: R/ Let the light of Christ shine on us.

–   That those who search and grope in life may discover Christ as the answer to their quest for love, goodness and truth, let us pray: R/ Lord, let the light of Christ shine on us.

–   That we here and all Christian communities may be to all who see us like a light on a mountain top, guiding people to God’s love, let us pray: R/ Let the light of Christ shine on us.

God our Father, do not allow those who believe in your Son to live in the darkness of evil. Let Jesus be the guide to you, our God for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
creator of light and light itself,
let your Son come among us
as a pathway of life towards you.
Open our blind eyes
that we may discover him
as your light that beckons us.
May we also begin to see
the people around us
and the hopes and pleas
that glow in their eyes,
and lead them to your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Preface

Now we thank our loving Father for having called us through Christ into his own wonderful light.

Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer

Led by Jesus himself,
we pray his trusting prayer
to God our Father. R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us Lord,
from the darkness of sin and evil
and show us the peace and light
of Jesus your Son.
Remove from our hearts the gloom
of all fear and anxiety
and lead us forward
to the joy and the light
of the full coming among us
of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord,
who said of himself:
”I am the light of the world.”
Happy are we to follow him,
for we will have the light of life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
you have enlightened us
with the Word of your Son
and strengthened us with the food of his Body

on the way to you.
Let him make us like himself,
a light to the world,
bringing a spark of hope where there is despair,
the radiance of joy where there is sadness,
a glow of love where there is indifference.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

Go and take the light of Christ with you
that it may shine in the world.
Speak with your lives
his message of hope and joy,
and show by what you are and do
that Christ is alive in you.
And may almighty God accompany you
and bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Walk in the light of Christ.
R/ Thanks be to God.

REFLECTIONS

Matthew 4:12-23 or 4:12-17

 “When the Word walks among us”

On this Sunday of the Word of God, the Church invites us to pause, listen, and let the Word of Christ dwell deeply within us (Col 3:16). The Word we celebrate today is not a distant voice from the past. It is alive, dynamic, and close — a Word that walks, calls, and heals.

Matthew tells us that Jesus begins his public ministry not in the grand city of Jerusalem but in the humble region of Galilee, “the land of the shadow of death.” It is there, in a borderland of mixed peoples and weary hearts, that the light shines most brightly. God’s Word chooses to dwell among the ordinary, the overlooked, and the struggling. Capernaum, a modest fishing village, becomes the first pulpit of the Gospel. It reminds us that the Word of God seeks spaces where hope is dim to make faith come alive.

Jesus begins with a message as brief as it is life-changing: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance is not merely sorrow for sin but a new way of seeing — a change of heart and attitudes. When the Word enters our lives, it enables us to think differently, to reorder our values according to God’s heart. The kingdom is near not because we have climbed to heaven, but because heaven has come to meet us in Jesus — the Word made flesh.

Then, the living Word walks along the shores of Galilee and calls fishermen — Peter, Andrew, James, and John. His simple invitation, “Come after me,” transforms their work and their world. Notice that Jesus does not command them to abandon their public lives, but to reorient it. Fishing remains their trade, but people become their catch.

Their nets — symbols of what entangles or limits us — are left behind. Today, the word "net" can also refer to the virtual net that strangles and chokes us, much like fish caught in a net with no way out. True discipleship begins when we drop the nets of fear, routine, and self-centeredness, and trust the voice that calls us to something greater.

Jesus’ mission unfolds in three actions: teaching, proclaiming, and healing. He teaches because truth liberates. He proclaims because good news must be shared. He heals because love restores what sin has wounded. The Word of God, then, is not mere information but transformation; it illuminates our minds, renews our hearts, and empowers our hands for service.

As we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, the words of Pope Francis is worth recalling: “The Word must not remain on a bookshelf or in a liturgical book alone — it must live among us.” Every time we read Scripture, proclaim it at Mass, or live its message with mercy and justice, the light of Christ shines anew in our own time.

Let us, then, open our hearts to the Word that dwells among us — not as an echo of the past, but as the living voice of Christ who still walks our shores, calling us by name, saying: “Come, follow me.”

Called Out of Darkness into a New Way of Life

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A (Matthew 4:12–23)

The beginning of Jesus’ public ministry is marked by a decisive change of place and purpose. After John the Baptist is arrested, Jesus leaves Nazareth and settles in Capernaum, a modest fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This move is not accidental. For the evangelist Matthew, it carries deep theological meaning: the light of God’s salvation dawns not from the religious centre of Jerusalem, but from a peripheral and culturally mixed region, long regarded with suspicion by the religious elite.

Matthew interprets Jesus’ choice as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s ancient prophecy: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” Galilee had known invasion, occupation, and suffering. It symbolised a land overshadowed by death and uncertainty. Yet it is precisely there that Jesus begins to proclaim the Gospel, revealing that God’s saving initiative often starts where hope seems weakest.

Jesus’ first public words are brief but revolutionary: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is not a threat but an announcement. A new reality has arrived. God’s reign is no longer distant or future; it is already present. But to recognise it, a radical change of mindset is required. The Greek word metanoia means more than remorse for sin—it calls for a complete transformation of one’s way of thinking, judging, and living.

Jesus contrasts two kingdoms. The old order, shaped by human criteria, values power, competition, wealth, and domination. The strong prevail, and the weak submit. In the kingdom of God, these values are overturned. What once seemed insignificant—meekness, mercy, forgiveness, service, generosity—now becomes decisive. This reversal challenges not only social structures but personal priorities. Clinging to the logic of the old world, Jesus warns, leads ultimately to failure.

Along the lakeshore, Jesus calls his first disciples. Simon Peter and Andrew are fishermen, engaged in the most laborious and humble form of their trade. Jesus invites them not with promises of reward, but with a mission: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They respond immediately, leaving their nets behind. In biblical symbolism, nets represent whatever entangles and restricts freedom—fear, compromise, attachment to security, or the need for control. Following Jesus requires the courage to let these go.

James and John are called next. They leave not only their nets, but also their boat and their father. The boat symbolises a familiar way of life; leaving it points to a new orientation, not an abandonment of work, but a transformation of its purpose. Entering the “new boat” of the Christian community means exercising one’s profession and responsibilities with a different goal: no longer self-advancement, but service, compassion, and the good of others. Even tradition—represented by the father—must be reinterpreted in the light of the Gospel when it obstructs the call to life and freedom.

The Gospel passage concludes by summarising Jesus’ mission in three verbs: teaching, proclaiming, and healing. He teaches by illuminating the darkness with truth. He proclaims the Good News that God is not a distant judge but unconditional love—an idea that still unsettles many believers. And he heals, not only physical illnesses, but the deeper wounds of meaninglessness, despair, and inner emptiness.

The call of the first disciples is not merely a historical account; it is a living invitation addressed to every believer. Jesus continues to walk along the shores of our lives, calling us to conversion, freedom, and trust. To follow him is to leave behind what enslaves us and to step into a new way of living, shaped by the values of God’s kingdom.

Isaiah 8:23b–9:3

Light that shines in the darkness!

Except for the first verse, we have already heard this reading at Mass on Christmas Eve. The prophecy is historically set in the second half of the eighth century B.C. It was the era of the Assyrian invasion in the Middle East. Devastation, violence, deportation, the imposition of heavy taxes were the consequences of the invasion of armies from Mesopotamia.

At this time of total destruction, the voice of the prophet announces the dawn of a new day: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. On those who live in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (9:1). In his vision of the future of Israel, Isaiah sees the Assyrian armies, responsible for the national disaster, withdraw and Israel resume its life in joy and peace.

The ‘great light that shines in darkness,’ referred to by the prophet, was undoubtedly a new king, a descendant of David's family. He was destined to dispel the darkness inflicted by the foreign invaders. Probably the prophet was referring to Hezekiah, the son of King Ahaz in whom he had placed so much hope.

But, nothing much happened in the reign of Hezekiah. The Assyrians continued to occupy the lands of Zebulon and Naphtali for another 100 years. Hezekiah, who tried to escape their yoke, ‘was kept in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.’ Does it mean that the prophet Isaiah got it wrong and promises were not fulfilled? Certainly not! God fulfils his promises, but in unexpected ways and in God’s due time. God has a plan that does not look for worldly powers. The prophecy wasrealised according to the logic of God through Jesus, 750 years later.

When Jesus showed up on the shores of the lake, the kingdom of the Assyrians had already collapsed centuries before, but the darkness of the world had not been dissolved. It was the darkness of evil, violence, oppression, corruption, and selfishness. This darkness began to dissipate—as Matthew will say in today’s Gospel—with the beginning of the public life of Jesus, when a light has shone on the mountains of Galilee.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

DAY 8
Growing into Christ

Verse for the day
The gifts he gave were for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (cf. Eph 4:13).

Additional Scripture passages
Proverbs 9:10-12; Psalm 119:97-104; John 17:3-7

Reflection:
In Ephesians 4:13, the apostle Paul summarises the vision of the Body of Christ in three key areas: unity in faith, maturity in knowledge, and fullness in Christ. Maturity comes through an ever-deepening knowledge of Jesus Christ. This is life-changing knowledge that leads us to renew our minds and put it into practice rather than just intellectual comprehension. We resemble him more and more as we get to know him better. To gain this knowledge, one must both study his teachings and live them out in daily obedience. The “full stature of Christ” is the goal of Christian maturity. It means becoming more like Jesus in every way: loving as he loves, serving as he serves, and reflecting his character. We are called to evaluate our spiritual journey, seeking unity with one another, growing in our knowledge of the Son of God, and striving for his fullness in us.

A question to consider:
How are we growing in our knowledge of Christ and allowing that knowledge to shape our actions, thoughts and relationships?

Prayer
O Christ, True Light of the world, make my soul worthy to see the light of your glory with joy on the day of my calling, and to rest in the house of the righteous, with the hope of good things, until the day of your great coming. Have mercy upon your creation and on me, a great sinner. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.