＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

 The word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time:

 “Go to Ni­ne­veh, the great city, and announce to them the message I give you.”  In obedience to the word of Yah­weh, Jonah went to Nineveh. It was a very large city, and it took three days just to cross it. So Jo­nah walked a single day’s journey and began proclaiming, “Forty days more and Nineveh will be de­stroyed.”

The people of the city believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.  When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened upon them.

 

Ps 25:4a-5, 6-7, 8-9

Teach me your ways, O Lord.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

 I say this, brothers and sisters: time is running out, and those who are married must live as if not mar­ried; those who weep as if not weeping; those who are happy as if they were not happy; those buying something as if they had not bought it, and those enjoying the present life as if they were not enjoying it. For the order of this world is vanishing.

 

＊＊＊＊ 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 in 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.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

Jesus continues the preaching ministry that John inaugurated and began to look for collaborators, like-minded men who would help Him spread the Good News. His first recruits are the fishermen along the shore of Lake Galilee. The Lord was lucky in the sense that no one refused His invitation. All immediately left their work and followed Him.

Reflect:

Why does Jesus recruit from the ranks of fishermen? He was after all a carpenter. He would have plenty of friends there. But why the fishermen? Perhaps because the symbolic meaning of the work tends to reinforce the mission Jesus receives from the Father.

His mission is to fish men and women for the Kingdom He will inaugurate soon. It is not about building structures but casting nets to catch multitude of believers. So, from the very onset of Jesus’ public ministry, He already set the tone.

His conscious selection of His closest collaborators says as much. The work is to seek and reach out to all men and women of goodwill so that a family of believers will be created round the teachings of the Lord.

Respond:

We all love to see beautiful structures. The Church throughout the millennia have achieved architectural marvels and other works of art. Yet the work of mission continues until now undistracted by the preoccupation of structures.

We are invited to support this missionary endeavor through our material and spiritual support of praying for our missionaries and their mission. And if you can lend your time and talent to advance the mission of God, that would be something wonderful.