Jonah 3:1-5, 10 / 1 Cor 7:29-31 / Mark 1:14-20
Whenever we are asked “What's the time?” we would automatically look at our wrist watch.
Time has become so important for us that we wear time on our hands.
Time has become so important for us that we live our lives according to the clock.
So, every day we wake up according to the time set in the alarm clock, we will have breakfast at a particular time, and we will go to work at a particular time.
We will have lunch at a particular time, and we will finish work at a particular time.
We will have dinner at a particular time, and then finally, we will go to bed at a particular time.
The next day will also have a similar routine with more or less the similar timings.
These routines and timings are certainly helpful to give us some regularity and stability in our lives.
And we like regularity and stability because it gives us a sense of security.
If every day is filled with anxiety and uncertainty, we might end up with panic attacks and stress disorder.
So, we like to live our lives according to our own way and according to our own time.
But there is also another time that does not go according to the clock.
That time is called God's time, or the appointed time.
In the gospel we heard about this appointed time.
For Jesus, the appointed time came when John the Baptist was arrested. Then, He went to Galilee and proclaimed the Good News from God with this message:
The time has come and the kingdom of God is closed at hand. Repent and believe in the Good News.
The appointed time came for Jesus to begin His mission.
The appointed time also came for Simon and Andrew when Jesus called them to follow Him and to be fishers of men.
The appointed time also came for James and John as they left their father and their livelihood to follow Jesus.
So, in God's time, or at the appointed time, people and events will just move into place by the hand of God.
But how would we know when is the appointed time for us? By what sign would we know that it is God's time?
Maybe, let us take a break for a riddle. Why shouldn't we share secrets when the clock is around? Answer: Because time will tell.
But seriously, when our regularity and routine is broken, then time is telling us something about the plans of God.
In the Old Testament, there was this occasion when Abraham was sitting in his tent at the hottest time of the day, when he saw three men passing by.
It was not a convenient time to welcome guests, but still Abraham came out of his tent to welcome the three men.
And for that, the men told Abraham that Sarah, his wife, would conceive and bear the son he was waiting for.
So, the hottest time of the day became the happiest time for Abraham.
In the New Testament, the old man Simeon had waited a lifetime to set his eyes on the Saviour.
Every day he went to the Temple to pray, and just on that day when he came to the Temple, Mary and Joseph brought the Child Jesus to present Him to the Lord.
Simeon had waited for a long time, but on that day, all his waiting time became his fulfilling time.
And we will remember the beloved Pope John Paul II. As a Cardinal, he was just back to his native Poland after the election of Pope John Paul I.
He had hardly unpacked his bags when he was summoned back again to Rome because Pope John Paul I died suddenly after only 33 days as Pope.
And in the midst of that sudden change of events, he was elected Pope, the first non- Italian Pope after 455 years, the youngest ever Pope at 58 years old, and elected only after 3 days of the conclave.
And after him, was Pope Benedict XVI, and he resigned from office and the Church was shaken. But God has His plans.
Then came along Pope Francis who brought a new era of simplicity and poverty for the Church.
Oh, it is he who instituted Word of God Sunday which the Church is celebrating this weekend.
So, when the time of regularity and routine is interrupted and disrupted, then it is telling us something about God's appointed time.
God's appointed time comes in the form of an inconvenient and unexpected time.
But, let us embrace this inconvenient, interrupted and disrupted time as God’s appointed time.
When we embrace God's appointed time, then time will tell, and it will be a time of rejoicing and gladness.