To be converted or not to be converted? That is the question

Today we were mainly in the Galilee area visiting Magdala, Chorazin and Capernaum following the early days of Jesus' ministry of announcing the Goof News of the Kingdom of God being close at hand. 

After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee.  There he proclaimed the Good News from God.  'The time has come' he said 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand.  Repent, and believe the Good News.'

- Mark 1:14-20

When Jesus says to "Repent" - We often think of this as just expressing deep sorrow for our sins. But the Greek word for repent, metanoia, implies much more. Jesus is calling us to a conversion of heart... again not just a simple statement of confessing faith in Jesus, rather a whole change of heart so that our hearts beat with his - we not only believe the Good News, we live, it we embody it. 

Our day today met some who experienced such conversion - and some who didn't. 

The bride says this:

On my bed, at night, I sought him whom my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

So I will rise and go through the City;

in the streets and the squares I will seek him who my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

The watchmen came upon me on their rounds in the City:

"Have you seen who my heart loves?"

Scarcely had I passed them than I found him whom my heart loves.

Song of Songs 3:1-4

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb' she said 'and we don't know where they have put him.'

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead. The disciples then went home again.

Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, "Woman, why are you weeping?" "They have taken my Lord away" she replied "and I don't know where they have put him." As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, "Woman why are you weeping ? Who are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him." Jesus said, Mary!" She knew him then and said to hi in Hebrew, "Rabbuni!"-which means Master. Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go and find the brothers and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

- John 20:1-18

Mary of Magdala knew the love Jesus had for her. She knew of her love for him too for he had freed her from seven demons. It was this ardent love then led her to join Jesus and the disciples on the road, the hikoi to Jerusalem. It was this ardent love that led her to the cross and to the tomb after the disciples who had betrayed, denied and abandoned Jesus. It was this ardent love that led her to the tomb that first Easter morning. And after Peter and John had seen the empty tomb, believed and gone again, it was her  ardent love that kept her at the the tomb. 

But Jesus knew that ardent love would encourage Mary to cling to him... our faith can never be just about our relationship with him... it has to be shared... go and find the brothers and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. So Mary of Magdala, the most unlikely of people, becomes the one to choose to become the Apostle to the Apostles. She teaches us faith, ardent love and mission go hand in hand. 

May we too have that ardent love of Jesus and like Mary seek him and share his Good News for the life of the world.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,

whose mercy is no less than His power,

to preach the Gospel to everyone, through Christ, our Lord.

In the garden He appeared to Mary Magdalene,

who loved him in life, 

who witnessed his death on the cross

who sought him as he lay in the tomb

who was the first to adore him when he rose from the dead,

and whose apostolic duty was honoured by the apostles

that the good news of life might reach the ends of the earth.

And so Lord, with all the Angels and Saints,

we, too, give you thanks and praise

One of the features of the church of Duc in Altum (Put out into the Deep) are its various features... the icons of the apostles...

The miracles Jesus worked in the area depicted in the various chapels

And my favourite, the healing of the woman with haemorrage. The floor of the chapel is the ancient Via Maris (Way to the Sea), the State Highway 1 of Jesus' times, a road he would have walked on

Mary of Magdala and Jesus

The archaeological site of Magdala was only discovered in 2006. Magdala was the most important town on the Sea of Galilee in Jesus time with about 6000 people. This is an ancient mikveh, ritual purifying bath in a home.

The Synagogue

From Magdala to Chorazin, one of three towns that Jesus "cursed" 

Jesus said to his disciples: 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  And still, it would not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon, at the judgement as with you.  And as for you, Caperaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.

'Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.'
Luke 10:13-16

None of these towns survive today. They are all just archaeological sites.

We reflected how easy it is to reject Jesus and not to recognise the signs around us. The more that happens the more community and society suffers as we become more self-absorbed with our own self rather than the common good and as we lose site of our spiritual dimensions. But even as Christians and Catholics we can do this forming community centred around particular viewpoints and losing site of the radical call of the Gospel and the true nature of the Church.

The remains of a house in Chorazin. As one of the group suggested, these archaeological sites are like a great mixed box of lego with no plans

It was hot, about 30 degrees

The remains of a 3rd century synagogue

The olive press

Imagine a sower going to sow.  Now it happened that as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away.  Some seeds fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop.  And some seed fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.'  And he said,  'Listen, anyone has ears to hear!' - This is the rocky ground Jesus was talking about

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath.  And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

As Jesus went down to Capernaum so did we...

In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, 'Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.'  But Jesus said sharply, 'Be quiet!  Come out of him!'  And the devil throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all.  Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, 'What teaching!  He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.'  And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.
- Luke 4:31-37

We all have demons, maybe not in the possessed sense here, but things that possess are that we are afraid of surrendering to Jesus. It might be wealth or possessions... an addiction of some kind... an inability to hold a viewpoint other than my own. And we can become afraid of exposing them to Jesus because we are afraid he might destroy us... but instead Jesus wants to bring liberation from demons so that we might have life and have it to the full. 

The 4th century synagogue in Capernaum...

It was built on the 1st century synagogue and you can see the remains of it with the black basalt stone

Leaving the synagogue Jesus went to Simon's house.  Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her.  Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her.  And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.

At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying hands on each he cured them.  Devils too came out of many people, howling, 'You are the Son of God.'  But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
- Luke 4:38-41

Simon Peter's house... I presume he was happy that Jesus healed his mother-in-law... and I;m sure all the husbands prayed for their mother-in-laws here.

When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place.  The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, 'I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.'  And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
- Luke 4:42-44

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Genesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank.  The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats - it was Simon's - and asked him to put out a little from the shore.  Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.'  'Master,' Simon replied 'we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.'  And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.'  For he and all his companions were completely over come by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners.  But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will catch.'  Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
- Luke 5:1-11

Peter the expert fisherman, who knew you didn't catch fish in the Sea of Galilee in the day. He'd worked hard all night... he'd just finished cleaning the nets, "But if you say so" he said with little enthusiasm. The Lord is always asking us to put out into the deep. It's like any relationship, if you don't go deeper the relationship stagnates and maybe even dies. So too with faith and sharing of faith. Is the Lord worth the risk? Peter knew Jesus has healed his mother-in-law so maybe that was enough to "humour" Jesus in responding to his request.

But to his surprise Peter netted a catch far beyond anything he had experienced before and it was this that brought Peter to his knees confessing his unworthiness. But Jesus was sure in his choice and so began Peter's great journey of conversion. Like Peter we need to be converted each day. It is not a one day deal. Everyday there are new things to learn in our relationship with the Lord as he opens and expands our hearts and minds as he calls each of us saying "Follow me".

Our final stop of the day was to Mount Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration.

The Elijah Chapel

The Moses Chapel

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. 'Lord,' he said 'it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.' When they heard this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them. 'Stand up,' he said 'do not be afraid.' And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, 'Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.'

- Mt 17:1-9

Peter's enthusiasm and impetuous is wonderful. Let's stay just where we are - let's build three tents. Wouldn't it be marvellous when we have special moments in our daily lives or relationships and be able to stay there. But we can't do that. We always have to come down the mountain and be grounded in reality of our daily lives. But such moments of encounters are graces... they give us courage and strenght in our hard times and for Peter, James and John this glimpse of glory was to strengthen them  for the cross. 

And then, once again, we met the divine cloud, the Shekhinah that we had met with the people of Israel in the wilderness and at Nazareth. Surrounding us the Divine Cloud enshrouds us in mystery and reminds us to look to Jesus, to listen to him. It's quite bizzare isn't it? We lose our perspective in fog or cloud. But on a clear day we see clearly. Perhaps the voice is saying - actually, perhaps in your daily living you are in a cloud without the true perspective and it is only when you truly embrace the life of God that you can see clearly.

Before we left the church we sang a waiata, as we do at each church, this time Mo Maria. Even though the church is massive our voices seemed to filled it.

May God be praised in all things

and in all hearts