2nd Sunday of the Year (a) 2017
At the beginning of the year many people make resolutions. It’s a good time to start, right at the beginning of the year. One of the most popular resolutions is to lose weight. And so people join ‘weight- watchers’ and diet and go jogging or go to the gym. Which reminds me of a Tommy Cooper story. Stop me if you’ve heard it before. Tommy was telling his friend how he gets up every morning at the crack of dawn. No matter how cold it is or how tired he feels he goes out. And while he’s running he exercises his arms and takes in deep breaths. Then when he’s finished he goes home, has a shower, and no matter how hungry he feels he doesn’t have breakfast. His friend is terribly impressed with this and asks Tommy: “when did you start that?” “Tomorrow” he replies!
Now people can be so conscious of their bodies but what about their souls? We are not just bodies, we are both body and soul. And if we take such care to look after the body shouldn’t we take equal care of the soul; in fact, even more care? Why not make a new years resolutions for the soul? May I suggest that you all consider reading a passage of scripture everyday; ideally at night time just before going to bed. Of course, we need motivation to make resolutions; what benefit will this have? The benefit is that it will make you a better person and it will make you a happier person. I know many a catholic who is unhappy, they feel they should do more than they are doing; well, this is the way and you don’t have to get up early in the morning and go out for a run. It can all be done in the comfort of your home.
You see, by reading the scriptures you will get to know Christ better. You will become even more aware of his love for you. And love changes us; we may not lose weight but we will be happier.
Isaiah, whom we heard about from the first reading, and John the Baptist in the Gospel, didn’t begin life knowing God; it was a life long process. But when they did get to know him it changed them. Not only that but they then wanted to tell others; they couldn’t keep the good news to themselves. And that is what we are called to do: get to know God and share the good news with others.
So, I will check up to see if you are keeping this new resolution next week. It won’t cost you anything, and you won’t have to diet or exercise, but it will bring you so much gain in other ways; and when you gain, others will too.
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