Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the home of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. As Simon’s mother-­in-­law was sick in bed with fever, they immediately told him about her. Jesus went to her and, taking her by the hand, raised her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening, at sundown, people brought to Jesus all the sick and those who had evil spirits: the whole town was pressing around the door. Jesus healed many who had various diseases, and drove out many demons; but he did not let them speak, for they knew who he was.Very early in the morning, before daylight, Jesus went off to a lonely place where he prayed.

Simon and the others went out also, searching for him; and when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Let us go to the nearby villages so that I may preach there too; for that is why I came.”So Jesus set out to preach in all the synagogues throughout Galilee; he also cast out demons.

Reflections
“Everyone is looking for you.”
The Gospel text describes a whirlwind of activity as Jesus enters a new town and is imme­diately be set by a crowd pres­sing around the door. Both here and in the nearby villages where he preached “throughout Gali­lee” and also casts out demons, Jesus seems to be surrounded by needy people; “everyone” is looking for him. The sick and possessed recognize him by his good works; even the nameless “demons” know who he is.But this wide view of a suf­ fering world is balanced by at­tention to a particular person in need: the mother-­in-­law of Simon. Jesus’ compassion is not directed just toward the name­ less crowd; each person he healed was someone’s mother, spouse, or child. Yet he could not linger; it was time to move on, to another village, another person in need, another crowd hungry for the good news. That, he says, is why he came.It is important that we remain conscious of great social chal­ lenges, the need to address po­verty, sickness, and the common good. But that does not excuse us from the need to notice and attend to the needs of the per­son right before us. Each one is precious in the eyes of the Lord.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
They went into the town of Capernaum and Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The people were astonished at the way he taught, for he spoke as one having authority, and not like the teachers of the law. It happened that, a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue, and he shouted, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, “Be silent, and come out of this man!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him. All the people were astonished, and they wondered, “What is this? With what authority he preaches! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him!” And Jesus’ fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

Reflections
“I know who you are.”
Authority is the key word in today’s gospel reading. It occurs in two senses. There is Jesus’ au­thority in the sense of his power to command and be obeyed— even by evil spirits who recog­nize and name him as “the Holy One of God.” But there is autho­rity in another sense: his capa­city to preach and speak “with authority”—“not like teachers of the law.” Jesus’ authority does not come from learned study, office, or lineage. He preaches and acts as one who lives and embodies the truth of his mes­sage. It is his very nature. People can sense his authenticity, but their response is more of won­der than of confession: “What is this?” They are not yet ready to recognize him as clearly as the evil spirits who “know who he is.” Among the saints, there were many who lacked any official of­fice, who had no special training or theological education. And yet their contemporaries could perceive in them an authority that was lacking in “teachers of the law.” As Christians, we too must speak with authority—not sim­ply by quoting authoritative texts or showing off our learning, but with the authority that comes from backing up professions of faith with the way we live.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee and began preaching the Good News of God. He said, “The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News.”As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” At once, they abandoned their nets and followed him. Jesus went a little farther on, and saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee; they were in their boat mending their nets. Immediately, Jesus called them and they followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men.

Reflections
“They abandoned their nets and followed him.”
The Gospels record no in­ stances in which a potential re­cruit rejects his personal call. It is as if such a calling—if it truly comes from the Lord—is literally irresistible. But perhaps Jesus’ choices were not arbitrary. Sure­ly Simon and his brother were not the only fishermen Jesus encountered along the shore. Perhaps, as Jesus discerned, they were predisposed for such a summons, already yearning for a task and a mission greater than casting nets into the lake.If a stranger says to you, “I have the answer to your problem,” this will seem merely bi­zarre if you are not conscious of having a problem. But if you do have a problem, and you receive such a message—well, at least he’s got your attention. “Many are called but few are chosen.” Perhaps it is only those already on a quest for answers who are ready to respond when the call comes—whether that call comes from a mysterious stranger on the beach, or the needs of our neighbor, or the de­mands of history. But those who are content merely with men­ding their nets are not likely to drop everything when the Lord issues that call.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
The people were wondering about John’s identity, “Could he be the Messiah?” Then John answered them, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is coming will do much more: he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. As for me, I am not worthy to untie his sandal.Now, with all the people who came to be baptized, Jesus, too, was baptized. Then, while he was praying, the heavens opened: the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the bodily form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, “You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Lectio Divina
READ: The prophet Isaiah proclaims the end of bondage and prepares the way of the Lord. St. Paul shows how Jesus has come to redeem us from the bondage of death, sin, and every evil. John the Baptist, who embodies Isaiah’s role of messenger, identifies Jesus as the one whose way he has prepared.
REFLECT: The role of the messenger is not to proclaim himself; he is not his own message. Instead, his mission is to proclaim Another. The church, like Isaiah and John the Baptist, is called to be a messenger: making straight the way of the Lord and announcing his arrival. The church is not itself the Good News. When the church becomes confused about its role and preaches itself, rather than Christ, it falls into what Pope Francis calls “spiri­tual narcissism.”
PRAY: Today, Lord, may I have the courage and faith to prepare a way for you in my life.
ACT: Consider my actions and encounters this day: In what ways did I prepare a way for Christ? In what ways did I set up obstacles?

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019