Isaiah 55:1-11
1 John 5:1-9 
Mark 1:7-11

[This homily was given at four Masses in the Thumb. They were "Teaching Masses" which involved a commentary preceding each of the four major "movements" that make up the Mass. Thus, the homily itself was very short.]

Today we're ending the "Christmas Season" and are at the beginning of the Church's "Ordinary Time" which really means "ordered time" because the Sundays are designated by number: "The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time... The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time" and so forth. And today, we're at the beginning of Mark's Gospel. 

A couple of days ago, as I was thinking about the weekend Masses coming up, something struck me that I had never thought of before. It is this. Mark didn't write his Gospel to give us a biography of Jesus. Nor was he trying to prove anything about Jesus. Nor was he trying to teach us some history. Mark (and the other three evangelists too) was trying to tell us the story of Jesus so that we could be part of the story.

You see, the story continues, and we're part of that story.

When Jesus called his first disciples - Peter, Andrew, James, and John - he didn't say, "Come, and watch what I'm doing." He said, "Come and be part of what I'm doing." 

You see, the story continues. Jesus came to bring about the Reign of God... to transform creation into a place of goodness and peace. He called disciples to help him do it. And he continues to do it, sending his Spirit upon disciples today to be part of what he is doing.

I'll use an example that doesn't really compare in importance to what I'm talking about, but it can help us understand it. Do you remember the old days of the New York Yankees? They kept winning the World Series one year after another. They had Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, and all those great stars. And they wore those pinstriped uniforms with the New York Yankee insignia. They say that when a rookie put that uniform on, he became a better player just by wearing it. He became part of the Yankee tradition. They would tell him stories about Babe Ruth, and Yankee Stadium, and the young rookie was lifted up to a new level because he was now part of this story.

They didn't tell those stories to teach him history, or to instruct him, or to prove how good the Yankees used to be. They wanted the rookie to know that he was now part of this story. It was still going on, and he was expected to carry on his part in continuing this story. 

Well, that's why Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote their stories. They wanted us to know that we're part of the story. They gave us "insider information" about who Jesus was, and what he came to do, and how Jesus is still with us.

It makes a great difference how we hear these Gospels. Is this a story of the past? Or is this a story that we're part of? 

Indeed we are. We are called by Jesus, and called by name. Jesus doesn't say, "Look at what I did." Jesus says, "Look at what I'm still doing." We are called to be part of what Jesus began and is still doing. We are about what Jesus was about, and what Jesus is still doing - transforming creation into the Reign of God, a place of goodness and peace.

It's a wonderful story. And we're part of it. May each of us, all of us, live up to our part in this wonderful story.

Originally given on January 12, 2003