Carmelite QuotesNot a Time for Silence — Silvio José Báez, ocd
Today’s Gospel recounts the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It tells us when he began to preach and what his first message was.
“When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee … From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near’” (Mt 4:12, 17).
Jesus had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Baptist’s movement—probably even his disciple—and he himself was baptized by John. John’s arrest must have deeply affected Jesus. Yet instead of intimidating him, this act of injustice helped him understand that God’s work had to continue.
People can be silenced, but great ideals endure. They extinguished the voice crying out in the desert, but a stronger voice arose—the voice of Jesus. Even when a prophet is silenced, God’s voice will always be heard, for “the word of God is not chained” (2 Tim 2:9). Jesus knew how to read the signs of the times. After John’s arrest, he could have withdrawn into hiding and lived an ordinary life. Instead, he chose to keep preaching in God’s name, nourishing his people’s hope and proclaiming God’s saving plan with passion.
Jesus teaches us that when everything seems to come to a halt, it’s the perfect moment to recalibrate our inner compass, to be docile to God’s ways, to look to the future with hope, and to keep moving forward. Problems and obstacles can become opportunities to discover strengths we didn’t know we had. When we face challenges without letting discouragement break us, we grow stronger and find creative solutions. The Lord’s strength and love are present in every difficulty we face. Let’s learn to see life with the eyes of Jesus, who knew how to discover new paths when everything seemed to be over.
We must stay attentive to what’s happening around us. We’re living in a decisive moment, one in which global geopolitics seem to be reshaped through the use of force, the denial of law, and contempt and mistreatment toward the most vulnerable people. We also see how economic relations and wealth have been elevated into a power that governs the world, forgetting the value and dignity of persons and nations. It’s time to redirect the course of history. It’s time to believe again in reason, peaceful understanding, human dignity, and in the urgent pursuit of peace and fraternity. As Pope Leo said at the Mass inaugurating his pontificate on May 18, 2025: “This is the hour of love!” It’s the hour to believe in God’s transforming power and in humanity’s ability to build a better world.
In many of our countries, we’re living through times of uncertainty and painful experiences of arbitrary powers that threaten, repress, and imprison. This isn’t the hour to remain silent or to lose heart. Like Jesus, who pressed forward after John’s arrest, we too must stand firm and continue to dream—and to fight for the liberation and democratization of our people, now at hand.
For the Church, this isn’t a time for silence. It’s time to raise our voices: to cast light into the darkness of this present hour, to nourish the people’s hope, and to denounce oppressive structures that have long prevailed but are now on the verge of disappearing.
This is the moment for political leaders not only to address international bodies or the media, but to speak directly to the people—with wisdom and solidarity. The time has come to give the people within the country a central role: to listen to their needs and concerns, to accompany their efforts to organize, and to strengthen their hope. Paraphrasing what Pope Francis said in Bolivia in 2015, we must remember that the future of our people doesn’t lie only in the hands of great powers or political leaders. It lies, above all, in the hands of the people themselves and in their ability to organize (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, July 9, 2015).
Today’s Gospel also shows us what lay at the heart of Jesus’ preaching. He left the desert and went to Galilee, a region full of villages and cities. And there, in the midst of the people, he began to proclaim: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near” (Mt 4:17). In these few words we find a summary of everything Jesus preached. The time of distance from God is over. The Kingdom of Heaven is near. God has drawn close with all his saving power. We’re not alone, weighed down and entangled in our problems, weaknesses, and sufferings.
When Jesus announces the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven, he adds: “Repent” (Mt 4:17). He invites us to examine how we think and how we act, and to let go of everything that keeps us from living fully.
- To repent is to remove the obstacles that block God’s closeness.
- To repent is to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing power of God’s love.
- It means abandoning the logic of selfishness and embracing the logic of love and respect for others, which is God’s very essence.
- It’s a call to go beyond personal interests and self-satisfaction and to build relationships rooted in compassion and solidarity—the foundations of a new humanity.
With Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near. God is among us. We’re not meant to live enslaved by our sins or trapped in a dark and meaningless life. We can be freed from the evil that dominates us and experience the joy of God’s forgiveness. We can live as God’s beloved children, welcoming his will and entrusting ourselves confidently to him. And we can become true brothers and sisters, letting go of a competitive way of seeing life and building together societies that are just and peaceful.
The new world that God’s closeness brings into being may seem like a dream, but God is already making it real. He’s waiting for us to welcome his love, to trust in him, and to be willing to remove the obstacles that keep him at a distance. Let’s receive with renewed joy Jesus’ great proclamation today: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come.”
Bishop Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 25 January 2026
Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Christ’s teaching ministry is featured in this stained glass window from Canterbury Cathedral. Image credit: Lawrence Lew, OP / Flickr (Some rights reserved).
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