Jesus Begins to Preach and Calls His First Disciples Mk 1:14-15

----- Forwarded Message ---- From: DGO . . . Sent: Sun, 9 January, 2011 17:05:52 Subject: Mark 1:14-20   Monday, 10 January 2011 Monday of the First week in Ordinary Time Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 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. … he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me,  . . .  Commentary of the day : Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] (1891-1942), Carmelite, martyr, co-patron of Europe    The Mystery of Christmas (trans. Josephine Rucker, 1985)    "This is the time of fulfillment... Come after me" The child in the crib is the King of kings and Lord of life and death. He utters his 'follow me' and whoever is not for him is against him (Lc 11,23). He also speaks for us and invites us to choose between light and darkness. Wherever that will lead us on this earth we do not know and should not ask beforehand. Only this do we know: that for those who love the Lord, all things work out for good (Rm 8,28). And in addition: that the paths which the Lord directs lead out beyond this earth. «O wonderful exchange!» The Creator of mankind, by taking on a human body, imparts to us his divinity. It is for this wondrous task that the Saviour came into this world. God became a Child of man so that the human race could become children of God. One of our race severed the bone of our divine adoption; one of us had to bind it up again and pay for the sin. No one from the ancient, sick and degenerate race could do it. A new, healthy and noble sprout had to be grafted. He became one of us; but even more than that: one with us. That is precisely the wonderful thing about the human race - that we are all one... He came to be a mysterious Body with us: he as head, we as members (Ep 5,23.30). Let us place our hands in the hands of the divine Child; let us speak our 'yes' to his 'follow me'. Thus we shall be his and the path shall be open for his divine life to pass over upon us. It is still the darkness of faith, but it is no longer of this world: it is already a stance in the kingdom of God. Navarre Commentary: Mark 1:14-20   Jesus Begins to Preach and Calls His First Disciples    14-15.  "The gospel of God": this expression is found in St Paul ( Rom_1:1 ; 2Co_11:7 ; etc.) where it means the same as "the gospel of Jesus Christ" ( 2Th_1:8 ; etc.), thereby implying the divinity of Jesus Christ. The imminence of the Kingdom requires a genuine conversion of man to God ( Mat_4:17 ; Mar_6:12 ; etc.). The prophets had already spoken of the need for conversion and for Israel to abandon its evil ways ( Jer_3:22 ; Isa_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 one's 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. 1Co_13:4 ) as only the Creator and Father can be; the love to which the 'God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ' ( 2Co_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).