READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of the Prophet Jonah Jon 3:1-5, 10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’S bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “ when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
PSALM 25 4-9 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. 5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Second reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor 7:29-31
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Mark Mk 1:14-20
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). These words are in no way a threat. On the contrary, they are a blessed proclamation, a joyful message. Each of us is invited to believe in the “Gospel”: God’s authority is brought close to His children. This is the Gospel. And Jesus announces this marvelous thing, this grace: God, the Father, loves us, is close to us and teaches us to walk on the path of holiness. The Kingdom of God is certainly a great strength, the greatest one there is, but not according to worldly criteria. This is why it never appears to have the absolute majority. It is like leaven that is kneaded with flour: it apparently disappears and yet, it is what makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33). He described Himself as a “grain of wheat” that dies in the earth, but only in this way can it bear “much fruit” (cf. Jn 12:24). (General Audience, 6 March 2019)
DIACONO LODOVICO GIARLOTTO The time of waiting is over,Jesus affirms, and the kingdom of God has come. The time of waiting is over, he affirms, and the kingdom of God has come. The content of the message is Gospel, a good news that arouses great joy in those who hear it. There are two conditions for to be able to experience it: to convert and to believe. To convert does not mean to avoid a sin, but it is the decision to change radically the way of seeing God, man, the world and history. There is hope for everyone, even for the hardened sinner because God does not consider him as a reject but as a son. The second part of the passage introduces the call of the first four disciples who are not doing important things but simply carrying out their work. God does not address Himself the idlers, the people without ideals but to those who are fully inserted in their social, economic and family context. Membership is not a fallback or a consolation. From the beginning, Jesus presents Himself as a teacher different from those of His time. The Master does not want disciples who seek Him out to learn a lesson, as was the case in those days but people who walk with Him, who share His life choices. The first four disciples immediately respond to the call, they trust in Jesus and follow Him, even though their destination is still unspecified and the destiny to which they are called will be clarified only later. The response to the call must be prompt, the detachment from goods and affections total and immediate, nothing can prevent us from following Him. Everything must be sacrificed if it is in contrast with the new life to which Jesus calls.
FAUSTI- The Gospel is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Jesus, therefore, by proclaiming the Gospel, proclaims Himself. He speaks the Word and is at the same time the Word spoken. For this reason it is alive and operative, capable of moving us like the first disciples. The decisive moment in history has come, because the Kingdom of God has arrived. The Kingdom of God, overturning the kingdom of man, which we already know well, as it arouses our hopes, also challenges our freedom. Jesus' proposal immediately becomes the responsibility of an answer from me. The Kingdom has already come by His initiative, but the entrance is reserved to my freedom. Conversion is turning to Him, starting behind Him on His own path. In all religions man seeks God, but in Christianity it is God Who seeks man. His proposal is direct and personal: He Himself, through the initiative of His Love, asks me to follow Him. His question and our answer are the two constitutive elements of faith, both immediate and non-delegable. No one can call me in His place and no one can answer in my place. He commits Himself first to be with me, and I commit myself to stay with Him. Others can be of help or previous mediation, the same announcement must lead me to meet Him. This is why we must beware of Christianity as an ideology. Faith is a concrete relationship with Him, a loving mutual belonging, a joyful being of one another. The story contains two parallel scenes of call and response, which, like for the first, apply to all disciples. A journey is understood only when it is made, not before. At the beginning there is always an act of trust - not blind, but well motivated and reasonable - in the person whom one is following. For those who walk towards freedom, Jesus is the Light that illuminates the night: for those who remain in slavery, He is dark cloud. He passes in search of us, He sees us and calls us; we see, listen, understand, are conquered and respond by leaving everything behind, following Him and going after Him. The mainspring of this dynamism can only be the great joy of those who find the treasure, incomparably more precious and more beautiful than anything they leave behind. The Christian faith is a pair of feet to follow Jesus, because one is taken by Him, the absolute Love, Who is worth more than all things, affections and life itself. Loving Him is the entrance into the Kingdom, the eternal Life, the full realization of man as a partner of God.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of the Prophet Jonah
Jon 3:1-5, 10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
PSALM 25 4-9
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
Second reading from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
1 Cor 7:29-31
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 1:14-20
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). These words are in no way a threat. On the contrary, they are a blessed proclamation, a joyful message. Each of us is invited to believe in the “Gospel”: God’s authority is brought close to His children. This is the Gospel. And Jesus announces this marvelous thing, this grace: God, the Father, loves us, is close to us and teaches us to walk on the path of holiness. The Kingdom of God is certainly a great strength, the greatest one there is, but not according to worldly criteria. This is why it never appears to have the absolute majority. It is like leaven that is kneaded with flour: it apparently disappears and yet, it is what makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33). He described Himself as a “grain of wheat” that dies in the earth, but only in this way can it bear “much fruit” (cf. Jn 12:24). (General Audience, 6 March 2019)
DIACONO LODOVICO GIARLOTTO The time of waiting is over,Jesus affirms, and the kingdom of God has come. The time of waiting is over, he affirms, and the kingdom of God has come. The content of the message
RispondiEliminais Gospel, a good news that arouses great joy in those who hear it. There are two conditions for
to be able to experience it: to convert and to believe.
To convert does not mean to avoid a sin, but it is the decision to change radically
the way of seeing God, man, the world and history.
There is hope for everyone, even for the hardened sinner because God does not consider him as a reject but as a son.
The second part of the passage introduces the call of the first four disciples who are not doing important things but simply carrying out their work.
God does not address Himself the idlers, the people without ideals but to those who are fully inserted in their social, economic and family context.
Membership is not a fallback or a consolation. From the beginning, Jesus presents Himself as a teacher different from those of His time.
The Master does not want disciples who seek Him out to learn a lesson, as was the case in those days but people who walk with Him, who share His life choices.
The first four disciples immediately respond to the call, they trust in Jesus and follow Him, even though
their destination is still unspecified and the destiny to which they are called will be clarified only later.
The response to the call must be prompt, the detachment from goods and affections total and immediate,
nothing can prevent us from following Him.
Everything must be sacrificed if it is in contrast with the new life to which Jesus calls.
FAUSTI- The Gospel is Jesus Christ, Son of God. Jesus, therefore, by proclaiming the Gospel, proclaims Himself. He speaks the Word and is at the same time the Word spoken. For this reason it is alive and operative, capable of moving us like the first disciples.
RispondiEliminaThe decisive moment in history has come, because the Kingdom of God has arrived.
The Kingdom of God, overturning the kingdom of man, which we already know well, as it arouses our hopes, also challenges our freedom. Jesus' proposal immediately becomes the responsibility of an answer from me.
The Kingdom has already come by His initiative, but the entrance is reserved to my freedom.
Conversion is turning to Him, starting behind Him on His own path.
In all religions man seeks God, but in Christianity it is God Who seeks man.
His proposal is direct and personal: He Himself, through the initiative of His Love, asks me to follow Him.
His question and our answer are the two constitutive elements of faith, both immediate and non-delegable. No one can call me in His place and no one can answer in my place.
He commits Himself first to be with me, and I commit myself to stay with Him.
Others can be of help or previous mediation, the same announcement must lead me to meet Him. This is why we must beware of Christianity as an ideology.
Faith is a concrete relationship with Him, a loving mutual belonging, a joyful being of one another.
The story contains two parallel scenes of call and response, which, like for the first, apply to all disciples. A journey is understood only when it is made, not before. At the beginning there is always an act of trust - not blind, but well motivated and reasonable - in the person whom one is following.
For those who walk towards freedom, Jesus is the Light that illuminates the night: for those who remain in slavery, He is dark cloud.
He passes in search of us, He sees us and calls us; we see, listen, understand, are conquered and respond by leaving everything behind, following Him and going after Him.
The mainspring of this dynamism can only be the great joy of those who find the treasure, incomparably more precious and more beautiful than anything they leave behind.
The Christian faith is a pair of feet to follow Jesus, because one is taken by Him, the absolute Love, Who is worth more than all things, affections and life itself.
Loving Him is the entrance into the Kingdom, the eternal Life, the full realization of man as a partner of God.