READING and REFLECTIONS For Monday, January 12, 2015 First week in Ordinary Time - Psalter Week 1 (Green) Readings: Heb 1:1-6; Ps 97:1-9; Mk 1:14-20 Response: Let all his angels worship him. Rosary: Joyful Mysteries Verse: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel. ORDINARY TIME: we are now in the Liturgical period of Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time consists of 33 or 34 weeks outside the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The Sundays and Weekdays in Ordinary Time unfold the other mysteries of Christ that are not explicitly commemorated by the seasons. During this time the church calls attention to our Lords ministry of preaching, healing and liberating. These, in some way, become present to us as we listen with faith to the biblical readings every Sunday and indeed everyday. Of great importance, therefore, are the Biblical readings, specially the Gospel, during the masses in Ordinary Time. When we listen to them we are enabled to listen to the preaching of Christ and experience the healing and saving power of His word. It is useful to keep in mind that His words and actions, which the Gospel proclaims, allow us to paint the picture of Our Father in heaven. We obtain knowledge of the Father through what Christ preached and performed. Likewise, the prefaces during Ordinary Time are worthy of our attention. They proclaim the wonderful works of God in Ccreation and salvation history through Jesus Christ. Ordinary Time is called Ordinary, but its message Sunday after Sunday, day after day, is far from ordinary: it is always extraordinary, because it is about the person of Jesus Christ who reveals to us by his words and actions the person of the Father. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys Marguerite had survived many threats in the twenty-six years she had been in wilderness of Canada. She had lived through Iroquois attacks, a fire that destroyed her small village, plagues on the ships that she took back and forth to France, but nothing threatened her dreams and hopes more than what her own bishop said to her in 1679. He told her that she had to join her Congregation of Notre Dame with its teaching sisters to a cloistered religious order of Ursulines. This was not the first time shed heard this command. Whether from a misplaced desire to protect her Sisters or from discomfort in dealing with an active religious order of women, bishops had long wanted to fit her into the usual mold of cloistered orders. But Marguerite had overcome many challenges to get to this day and was not deterred. In her own native France, she had belonged to a sodality of women who cared for the sick. The stories of hardships and dangers in Montreal that made other people shiver had awakened a call from God in her to serve the Native Americans and settlers who endured this adversity. She met with the governor of what was then called Ville Marie and convinced him she was the person he was looking for to help start a school for the children of Montreal. When she arrived in Ville Marie, as it was called then, she found that few children survived to school age. She helped the remarkable Jeanne Mance, who ran the hospital, to change this tragedy. When she finally had children to teach, she had to set to up school in a stable. So she was not ready to surrender to the bishop. There was too much at stake. She reminded him that the Ursulines because they were cloistered could not go out and teach, as her Sisters had done. The poor and uneducated would not and could not travel to a Quebec cloister over miles of frontier at the risk of their lives. But her Sisters were more than willing to live in huts in order to fulfill their call from God. She had set up schools all over the territory, not just for children. When the king, in well-meaning ignorance, had sent untrained orphans over to be colonists she had set up a school for the women to teach them how to survive and thrive in Canada. How could they do the work for God that they had done so well in a cloister? The bishop replied, I cannot doubt, Mother Bourgeoys, that you will succeed in moving heaven and earth as you have moved me! The Congregation remained an active teaching order, one of the very first of its kind for women. Their rule had to go through one more attempt at turning them into a cloister but Marguerite lived to see the triumph when their Rule was made official in 1698. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Hebrews 1:1-6 1 At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but 2 in our time, the final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages. 3 He is the reflection of Gods glory and bears the impress of Gods own being, sustaining all things by his powerful command; and now that he has purged sins away, he has taken his seat at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high. 4 So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name. 5 To which of the angels, then, has God ever said: You are my Son, today I have fathered you, or: I shall be a father to him and he a son to me? 6 Again, when he brings the First-born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God pay him homage. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9 1 Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad! 2 Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne. 6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory. 7 Shame on all who serve images, who pride themselves on their idols; bow down to him, all you gods! 9 For you are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods. GOSPEL, Mark 1:14-20 14 After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the gospel from God saying, 15 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel. 16 As he was walking along by the Lake of Galilee he saw Simon and Simons brother Andrew casting a net in the lake -- for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Come after me and I will make you into fishers of people. 18 And at once they left their nets and followed him. 19 Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending the nets. 20 At once he called them and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Father of love, hear our prayers. Help us to know your will and to do it with courage and faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Hebrews 1:1-6 (The Greatness of the Incarnate Son of God, Proof from Sacred Scripture) Hebrews 1, 1-4. The first four verses are a kind of prologue to the letter, which does not carry the greetings and words of thanksgiving to God normally found in letters of St. Paul. Like the prologue of St Johns Gospel, the letter moves immediately into its main subject -- the divinity of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. It speaks of Christ as a Son whose sonship is eternal, prior to the creation of the world and to his Incarnation; it speaks also of Christs mission to save all men, a mission appropriate to the Word who created all things. This exposition culminates in the affirmation of Christs absolute superiority over angels, a theme dealt with, in different ways, up to the end of the second chapter. The entire epistle in fact develops the subject entered on in the prologue -- the sublimity of Christ, the natural and eternal Son of God, the universal Mediator, the eternal Priest. This is why St. Thomas Aquinas says that the subject matter of this epistle is the excellence of Christ. In this respect the Letter to the Hebrews is different from the other letters in the Pauline corpus: in some letters (the Great Epistles and the Captivity Letters) the Apostle deals with the grace which imbues the entire mystical body of the Church; others (the Pastoral Letters) deal with the grace bestowed on certain members of the Church (such as Timothy and Titus); whereas the Letter to the Hebrews looks at grace as it is found in the Head of the mystical body, Christ. This excellence of Christ the Angelic Doctor adds, is examined by St Paul from four points of view: the first is that of Christs origin, which the sacred writer identifies by calling him the true (natural, metaphysical) Son of God, when he says that God has spoken to us by a Son; the second is that of his power, for he depicts him as being made the heir of all things; the third is that of his activity, when he affirms that he created the world; the fourth, his sublime dignity, when he says that Christ reflects the glory of God (cf. Commentary on Heb., Prologue and 1:1). Christ is thus presented as the pinnacle and fullness of salvific Revelation, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us: After God had spoken many times and in various ways through the prophets in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son (Heb 1:1-2). For he sent his Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all men to dwell among men and to tell them about the inner life of God. He did this by the total fact of his presence and self-manifestation -- by words and works, signs and miracles, but above all by his death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God was with us, to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life (Dei Verbum, 4). Hebrews 1, 1. Divine Revelation, which is rightly called the Word of God, develops in stages in the course of the Old and New Testaments. By this Revelation, Vatican II teaches, the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17), from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14-15), and moves among men (cf. Bar 3: 38), in order to invite and receive them into his own company.This economy of Revelation is realized by deeds and words, which are intrinsically bound up with each other. As a result, the works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and bear out the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain (Dei Verbum, 3). Revelation is, then, a gradual opening up of Gods mysteries whereby little by little, like a wise teacher, it makes known who he is and what his plans are concerning the salvation of all mankind. For, although there is only one God and one way of salvation, man needs to be educated by means of many precepts and to progress by stages on his way to God and so advance in faith towards complete salvation in Christ. God in his mercy reveals his mysteries to man in this way in order that the whole world experiencing this saving proclamation, on hearing it should believe, on believing it hope, on hoping in it love (St Augustine, De Catechizandis Rudibus, 4, 8 ). When speaking of Revelation, the First Vatican Council recalled that although God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from the things that he created, it was, nevertheless, the good pleasure of his wisdom and goodness to reveal himself and the eternal decrees of his will to the human race in another and supernatural way (Dei Filius, Chap. 2). This supernatural revelation, as it says (reaffirming the teaching of the Council of Trent), is contained in books and in oral traditions which the Apostles received from Christ or from the Holy Spirit and passed on to us. Christs Gospel had earlier been promised by the prophets and, more generally, by the entire Old Testament. The epistle refers to this when it says that God spoke in the past through the mouth of the prophets in many ways, that is, at various stages in the history of the chosen people, and in various ways, that is, by means of visions, words, actions and historical events. Hebrews 1, 2. The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation (Dei Verbum, 2). St. John of the Cross comments on this passage in a very beautiful and profound way: And this is as if he had said: That which God spoke of old in the prophets to our fathers in sundry ways and divers manners, he has now, at last, in these days, spoken to us once and for all in the Son. Herein the Apostle declares that God has become, as it were, dumb, and has no more to say, since that which he spoke before, in part, to the prophets, he has now spoken altogether in him, giving us the All, which is his Son. And so he who would now inquire of God, or seek any vision or revelation would not only be acting foolishly, but would be committing an offense against God, by not setting his eyes altogether upon Christ, and seeking no new thing or aught beside. And God might answer him after this manner, saying: If I have spoken all things to you in my Word, which is my Son, and I have no other word, what answer can I now make to you, or what can I reveal to you which is greater than this? Set your eyes on him alone, for in him I have spoken and revealed to you all things (Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 2, Chap. 22). The last days refer to the period of time between the first coming of Christ and the second coming, or Parousia. These days have begun because the definitive Word of God, Jesus Christ, can be seen and heard. Mankind already finds itself in the last age, in the end of the ages (cf. 1 Cor 10:11; Gal 4:4; Eph 3:10). By speaking to us through his Son, God reveals to us his saving will from the moment of the Incarnation onwards, for the second person of the Blessed Trinity has come into the world to redeem us by dying for us and to open for us the way to heaven by his glorification. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the prophet par excellence (cf. note on Jn 7:40-43), for he perfects and completes Gods merciful revelation. The Incarnation and the subsequent events of our Lords life are, like his teaching, a source of salvation. It was appropriate that the Son who perfectly revealed God the Father should also be the divine Word, the Creator of the world (cf. Jn 1:3). The creative action of the divine Logos or Word is not contradicted by the statement that Creation is the work of God the Father, for everything done by God outside himself (ad extra) is an action common to the three divine persons; nor is it correct to see the Word as merely an instrument used by the Father, for he is one in substance with him. It is the good Fathers own, unique Word who has ordered this universe. Being the good Word he has arranged the order of all things. He was with God as Wisdom; as Word he contemplated the Father and created the universe, giving it substance, order and beauty (St Athanasius, Oratio Contra Gentes, 40 and 46). Not only did the Word make the Father manifest by creation; he, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, acted in the revelation of the Old Testament: in fact, many patristic writers attributed to the Son -- as angel or messenger of Yahweh -- the divine epiphanies witnessed by Moses and the prophets. St. Irenaeus writes, for example, that Christ prefigured and proclaimed future events through his Patriarchs and prophets, thereby acting in his role as Teacher, promulgating the divine commandments and rules and training his people to obey God the Father (cf. Against Heresies, XIV, 21). A profound harmony links Gods revelation in Creation, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament: in each case it is the same God who is manifesting himself and the Word is ever actively involved. This activity of the Word is hidden and happens through the prophets in the Old Testament; whereas in the New the Word becomes flesh and acts directly. This passage in Hebrews combines the revelation of Jesus Christ as Mediator and maker of the universe (cf. Col 1:15-18 ; 1 Cor 8 :6) with the idea that God has at last spoken to us in his Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, and has made known to us the invisible mysteries of the Godhead (cf. Jn 1:18 ). Hebrews 1, 3a. These words, which describe Christs divinity and eternity, recall the passage in the Book of Wisdom which reads, For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God (Wis 7:26). What the Old Testament described as an attribute of God is now revealed as a personal being the second person of the Trinity, the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Using three images, the text teaches that Jesus Christ is perfect God, identical to the Father. By saying that he reflects the glory of the Father it means that he and the Father share the same nature -- which is what we profess in the Creed when we say that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is light from light, true God from true God (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). The author means, St. John Chrysostom writes, that Christ has this glory in his own right; it can suffer no eclipse nor can it either increase or diminish (Hom. on Heb., 2). The Son is also stamped with the nature of the Father; stamp is a translation of the Greek word character, which means the mark left by a tool used to engrave or seal (for example, the impression of a seal on wax, or the seal affixed to a document, or the brand used to identify livestock). This word indicates two things -- first, the perfect equality between the mark and the seal which makes it, and second, the permanence of the mark. Upholding the universe by his word of power: the Son, through whom all things have been created, is also maintaining them in existence. God the Father not only creates but, through the Son, maintains a continual, direct influence on his creation; if he did not do so, as St Thomas Aquinas explains, the world would revert into non-being: If the divine power ceased to operate, existence would cease, the being and subsistence of every created thing would end: (the Word) therefore upholds all things in respect of their existence, and he sustains them also by virtue of being the first cause of everything he has created (Commentary on Heb., 1, 2). It makes sense that God the Father should wish to keep the world in existence by means of the same Word by whom he created it. Hebrews 1, 3b. This is the central message of the Epistle to the Hebrews: Christ, the consubstantial Son of the Father, the perfect reflection of his substance, who created all things and maintains them in existence, by becoming man brought about purification for sins and by his sacrifice was glorified and put at the right hand of the Father, receiving the name which is above every name (cf. Phil 2: 6-11; Jn 1:1, 3, 14). The actions of Jesus Christ are a continuum of mercy and salvation which extends from the creation of the world and mankind to the point where he is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Creation and Redemption are mysteries intimately linked to each other. The Son, the divine Word, is both Creator and Redeemer. It is appropriate to speak in the first instance, St. Athanasius writes, of the creation of the universe and of God its Creator, in order correctly to appreciate the fact that the new creation of this universe has been brought about by the Word who originally created it. For there is no contradiction in the Fathers effecting the salvation of creatures by him through whom they were created (De Incarnatione Contra Arianos, 1). This is why the tradition of the Church, echoing certain references in the New Testament (cf. Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10), describes the Redemption as a new creation. To sit down at the right hand of the Majesty is equivalent to saying has the status of God: Majesty is a term of reverence used to refer to God without naming him; thus, Jewish rabbis would refer to God as Lord, the most High, the Power, Glory, etc. Sitting in the presence of God was a prerogative of the Davidic kings (cf.2 Sam 7:18 ; Ezek 44:3), and the person at the right hand was seen as occupying the place of honor (cf. Ps 45: 10). Psalm 110 proclaims that God will have the Messiah sit at his right hand, and at various times Christ referred to that prophecy to assert that he was the Messiah and God (cf. Mt 22: 44; 26:63-65; Jn 5:17-18; 10:30-33). The exaltation of the Son to the right hand of the Father was a constant theme of apostolic preaching (cf. Acts 2:33; Rom 8:34; 1 Pet 3:22; Rev 3:21; Eph 1:20). As St. John Chrysostom comments, when St Paul says that the Son sat down at the right hand of the Majesty he means principally to refer to the status of the Son as equal to that of the Father. And when he says that he is on high, in heaven, far from meaning to confine God with in spatial limits, he wants us to see God the Son, as Lord of the universe, raised up to the very throne of his Father (cf. Hom. on Heb., 2). Hebrews 1, 4. The prologue ends with a very important statement, which introduces the theme of the rest of the first chapter: Christ is superior to the angels. To understand this comparison of Christ with the angels, one needs to bear in mind the outlook of the Jews at the time. The period immediately prior to the New Testament had seen a considerable development of devotion to angels among the ordinary religious Jews; with the result that this was the danger of Jesus, because he was a man, in some way being seen as on a lower level than angels, who, created beings though they are, are pure spirits. In the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 23:9), we find the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin surmising that St. Pauls preaching may result from revelation given him y an angel; and belief in the existence of angels was a point of contention between Pharisees and Sadducees (cf. Acts 23:7). For this reason the author of Hebrews wants to make it quite clear to Christians of Jewish origin that Jesus is much more than an angelic being. Christ is superior to angels, the inspired writer says, because he has the title of Son, which is his by natural right. This name demonstrates his divine nature, a nature superior to that of any visible or invisible created being, whether material or spiritual, whether earthly or angelic: somethings name describes its essence and, particularly in Sacred Scripture, name and essence are at times one and the same. Thus, for example, the phrase in the name of (cf. Mt 28 :19; Acts 3:6; 4:7; 4:12; etc.) refers not just to the authority or power of the person named, but to the person himself. Jesus Christ, because he is the very Son of God, is superior to angels by virtue of the glory due to his eternal oneness with the Father. As eternal Son of God, to him belonged, by right of inheritance, the title of Son and Lord. Moreover, after his passion and resurrection he has become superior to angels by a new title through his exaltation on high (cf. 1 Cor 15: 24-27; Phil 2:9-11). This passage refers primarily to Jesus glorification as man; for the words having become as much superior to angels... cannot refer, St. John Chrysostom points out, to his divine essence: by virtue of his divinity the Son is equal to the Father and cannot be subject to change, cannot become anything: he is eternally what he is by generation from the Father: Eternal Word by nature, he did not receive his divine essence by way of inheritance. These words, which manifest his superiority over the angels, can only refer to the human nature with which he has been clothed: for it is that nature that is a created one (Hom. on Heb., 1). Hebrews 1, 5. Ancient Hebrew exegesis of this verse of Psalm 2 took it in a messianic sense: the Messiah or Anointed would be king of Israel and would enjoy Gods special protection. Therefore he merited being called Son of God, in the same kind of way, though more eminently, as other kings and just men of Israel deserved the title. But in Hebrews 1:5 the verse is given a much more profound interpretation: the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Son of God, begotten today, that is, in the continuous present of the eternal Godhead. It is affirming the generation of the Son by the Father in the bosom of the Trinity, whereby the Son proceeds eternally from the Father and is his mirror image. This form of generation is radically different from physical generation, whereby one living being physically begets another like unto himself; and it is also quite different from Creation, whereby God makes everything out of nothing. It is different from physical generation because, in the Holy Trinity, Father and Son co-exist eternally and are one and the same and only God, not two gods. It is different from Creation because the Son has not been made from nothing but proceeds eternally from the Father. God created angels in the context of time, as the Fourth Lateran Council says in its profession of faith: We firmly believe and profess without qualification that there is only one true God, Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal, who, by his almighty power, from the very beginning of time, has created both orders of creatures in the same way out of nothing, the spiritual or angelic world and the corporeal or visible universe. And afterwards he formed the creature man, who in a way belongs to both orders, as he is composed of spirit and matter (De Fide Catholica, Chap. 1). The Son, on the other hand, proceeds from the Father eternally as light rays come constantly from the sun or as water forms one single thing with the spring from which it flows. These words have never been addressed to an angel, St. Thomas Aquinas comments, but to Christ alone. In them three things may be observed. First, the mode of origin, expressed in the word say. It refers to a type of generation which is not of the flesh but rather of a spiritual and intellectual kind. Second, this generation has an altogether singular character, for he says, Thou art my Son, as if saying that although many others are called sons, being [Gods] natural son is proper to Him alone; others are called sons of God because they partake of the Word of God. Third, this is not a temporal but an eternal generation (Commentary on Heb., 1, 3). The quotation from Psalm 2 is completed by Nathans prophecy to David (2 Sam 7:14: I will be his father, and he shall be my son), which announces that a descendant of David will be the Messiah and will ever enjoy Gods favor. But the Hebrews text also makes it much clearer that the Messiah is the Son of God in theproper sense of the word -- a son by nature, and not by adoption (cf. Lk 1:32-33). In Christ, therefore, two things combine: 1. He is the Son of God and 2. He is the Messiah King. Hebrews 1, 6. Here the words of Deuteronomy 32:43, identical with those of Psalm 97:7 as given in the Septuagint, are used to convey, as a divine commandment addressed to spiritual beings, a directive to adore the Son. This is a further proof of Christs superiority: the angels are to worship him. This adoration shows his absolute superiority over angels: it is the superiority of the master over his servants and his slaves. When Jesus Christ left the bosom of his Father to enter this world, God required his angels to worship him. This is what a monarch does when he brings some great personage into his palace and wishes to have him honored: he orders his dignitaries to bow in his presence Hom. on Heb., 3). This reference to bringing the first-born into the world is consistently interpreted by the Fathers of the Church and by ancient writers as a reference to the Incarnation. Some authors also see this verse as referring to the second coming of Christ, when the world to come, unlike the present world, will be totally subject to the Redeemer. This interpretation connected with the end of time may explain why the text of Deuteronomy 32:43 is used: that passage is followed by reference to the last judgment by God. Christs human nature should be worshiped now and always by angels and men alike, for by doing so they adore Jesus, who is one person -- which is divine -- with two natures, one divine and one human; he is worshiped as one: his divinity and his humanity are worshiped at one and the same time. This worship due to Christ over every created being is reminiscent of what St. Paul says in Philippians 2:10: at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, referring to the glorified human nature of Christ. It is fitting that the sacred humanity of Christ should receive the homage, praise nd adoration of all the hierarchies of the angels and of all the legions of the blessed in heaven (St. J. Escriva, Holy Rosary, Second Glorious Mystery). ON THE GOSPEL: Mark 1:14-20 (Jesus Begins to Preach and Calls His First Disciples) After John had been arrested, Jesus went to Galilee. There he proclaimed the Gospel of God. John was arrested by King Herod for having denounced the immoral behaviour of the King (Lk 3, 18-20). The imprisonment of John the Baptist did not frighten Jesus! On the contrary, all the opposite! In that he saw a symbol of the coming of the Kingdom. And today, would it be that we know how to read the facts of politics and of urban violence to announce or proclaim the Good News of God? Jesus proclaimed the Good News of God. The Good News is of God not only because it comes from God, but also and, above all, because God is its content. God, himself, is the greatest Good News for human life. He responds to the deepest aspiration of our heart. In Jesus we see what happens when a human person allows God to enter and to reign. This Good News of the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus has four different aspects: a) The time is fulfilled, has arrived. For the other Jews the time was not as yet fulfilled, had not arrived. There was still much missing for the coming of the Kingdom. For the Pharisees, for example, the Kingdom could be attained only when the observance of the Law would be perfect. Jesus had another way of reading the facts. He says that the time is fulfilled, it has arrived. b) The Kingdom of God is close at hand! For the Pharisees the coming of the Kingdom depended on their efforts. It would have arrived only after they had observed the Law. Jesus says the contrary: “The Kingdom is close at hand”. It is already here! Independently of the efforts made! When Jesus says: “The Kingdom is close at hand”, he does not mean to say that the Kingdom has been reached only at that moment, but rather that it was already there. What everybody was expecting was already present in their life, and they did not know it, they did not perceive it (cf. Lk 17, 21). Jesus perceived it! Because he saw and read reality with a different look And it is in this hidden presence of the Kingdom in the midst of the people that Jesus reveals himself to the poor of his land. And this is the seed of the Kingdom which will receive the rain of his Word and the warmth of his love. c) Convert yourselves! The exact meaning is change the way of thinking and of living. In order to be able to perceive the presence of the Kingdom in life, the person should begin to think and to live in a diverse way. The person should change way of life and find another way of living together with others! He/she should leave aside all legalism of the teaching of the Pharisees and allow the new experience of God to invade his/her life and give him/her a new way of looking so as to read and understand the facts in a new way. d) To believe in the Good News! It was not easy to accept this message. It is not easy for us to begin to think in a different way from all that we have learnt, since we were small children. This is possible only through an act of faith. When someone give a diverse news, it is difficult to accept it, and it is accepted only if we trust the person who gives the news. And thus, you will say to others: “You can accept! I know this person! This person does not deceive! You can trust him/her! We can trust Jesus! Mark 1, 14-15. The gospel of God: this expression is found in St. Paul (Rom 1:1; 2 Cor 11:7; etc.) where it means the same as the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thess 1:8 ; etc.), thereby implying the divinity of Jesus Christ. The imminence of the Kingdom requires a genuine conversion of man to God (Mt 4:17; Mk 6: 12; etc.). The prophets had already spoken of the need for conversion and for Israel to abandon its evil ways (Jer 3:22; Is 30:15; Hos 14:2; etc.). Both John the Baptist and Jesus and his Apostles insist on the need for conversion, the need to change ones attitude and conduct as a prerequisite for receiving the Kingdom of God. John Paul II underlines the importance of conversion for entry into the Kingdom of God: Therefore, the Church professes and proclaims conversion. Conversion to God always consists in discovering his mercy, that is, in discovering that love which is patient and kind (cf. 1 Cor 13:4) as only the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor 1:3) is faithful to the uttermost consequences in the history of his covenant with man: even to the Cross and to the death and resurrection of the Son. Conversion to God is always the fruit of the rediscovery of this Father, who is rich in mercy. Authentic knowledge of the God of mercy, the God of tender love, is a constant and inexhaustible source of conversion, not only as a momentary interior act but also as a permanent attitude, as a state of mind. Those who come to know God in this way, who see him in this way, can live only in a state of being continually converted to him. They live, therefore, in statu conversionis and it is this state of conversion which marks out the most profound element of the pilgrimage of every man and woman on earth in statu viatoris (John Paul II, Dives In Misericordia, 13). The first objective of the proclamation of the Good News is that of forming a community. Jesus goes by, he sees and he calls. The first four who were called, Simon, Andrew, John and James, listen, abandon everything and follow Jesus in order to form a community with him. It seems to be love at first sight! According to Mark’s account, everything takes place in the first encounter with Jesus. Comparing with the other Gospels, people perceive that the four already knew Jesus (Jn 1, 39; Lk 5, 1-11). They had already had the opportunity to live with him, to see him help the people and to listen to him in the Synagogue. They knew how he lived and what he thought. The call was not something of one moment, but a question of repeated calls and invitations, of progressing and of retreating. The call begins and begins again always anew! In practice, it coincided with the living together with Jesus for two or three years, since the time of the Baptism until the moment when Jesus went to Heaven (Acts 1, 21-22). And then, why does Mark present this as something sudden, an act of love at first sight? Mark thinks in the ideal: the encounter with Jesus should bring about a radical change in our life! Mark 1, 16-20. In these verses the evangelist describes how Jesus called some of those who would later form part of the Apostolic College (3:16ff). From the start of his public ministry in Galilee the Messiah seeks co-workers to help him in his mission as Savior and Redeemer. He looks for them among people used to hard work, people for whom life is a struggle and whose life-style is plain. In human terms they are obviously at a disadvantage vis-a-vis many of those to whom they will preach; but this in no way prevents their self-surrender from being generous and free. The light lit in their hearts was enough to lead them to give up everything. A simple invitation to follow the Master was enough for them to put them- selves completely at his disposal. It is Jesus who chooses them: he interfered in the lives of the Apostles just as hMark 1, e interferes in ours, without seeking our permission: he is our Lord. Cf. note on Mt 4:18-22. FINAL PRAYERS: For you are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods. (Ps 97,9) Dear Jesus, may all that I do be done with your inspiration. Guide me in all that I do, in all that I say, in all that I feel; hold me in your presence and never let me be apart from you. Amen. It is by God’s mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world. -- Pope Francis Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 21:22:01 +0000
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