21 January 2024: Mark 1:14-20

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Please read the passage indicated before reading the commentary.

My sisters and brothers,

At the beginning of the gospel according to Mark, Mark calls Jesus the Messiah, Son of God.  At his baptism, the voice of the Father called Jesus the Son beloved by God.

After John the Baptist’s arrest, Jesus went to Galilee and preached the Good News of God.  He said, “The fulness of time has come and the Kingdom of God is near.”  Time describes our lives; eternity describes God’s life.  The hugeness of God fills the emptiness of our lives the way water fills a glass.

En Christ, God’s eternity has entered our time.  God’s existence, which is the how of God’s existence, has entered our time, which is the how of our living.  We live in the fulness of time, that is, we live in the eternalness of God’s life even now.

This has two consequences.  One is that our lives are full of God’s joy: we have the power to repent of our sins and we have the power to follow Jesus.  Earth and heaven know each other: this is t4he fulness of time for us.

Time of earth, the life of those who do not know Jesus, the hope of those who have no hope is looking for us for the light of the glory of God which is with us because we are living in God’s eternalness even though we are in time.  Simon and Andrew, James and John welcomed the fulness of time and followed Jesus. We likewise have welcomed the same fulness of time in our lives and follow Jesus as did the other apostles.

May God’s eternity shine over whatever emptiness we are experiencing and lead us to the fulness of God’s glory.