Word of the day

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews
Heb 1:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways
to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son,
whom he made heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe,

who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,
and who sustains all things by his mighty word.
When he had accomplished purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say:

You are my Son; this day I have begotten you?

Or again:

I will be a father to him, and he shall be a Son to me?

And again, when he leads the first born into the world, he says:

Let all the angels of God worship him.

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 left 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.

When the Lord enters our life, when he passes in our heart he always speaks a word and makes a promise: “go ahead, take heart, do not be afraid: you will do this!”. It is an invitation to mission, an invitation to follow him. And when we feel this invitation and see that there is something wrong in our life, we must correct it and let it go generously. Or else there might be something in our life that is good, but the Lord inspires us to leave it in order to follow him more closely which is what happened here: these men left everything, says the Gospel. “And having pulled their boats ashore, they left everything: boats, nets, everything! And they followed him". (Santa Marta, 5 September 2013)