Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 1:14-20

Today, the liturgy begins in the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year. The beginning of the Gospel of Mark opens the curtain on the first activities of Jesus: His preaching and the first fruits. Four fishermen drop everything and follow him. He preaches his first sermon in the Gospel of Mark: It Is too short. Just two sentences: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.’ Jesus is in Galilee, in the north of Israel, is not a very religious area. Jesus began the activity “when John the Baptist was arrested.” The first objective of the proclamation of the Good News is that of forming a community. Walking on the shore of the lake of Galilee, Jesus sees two pairs of fishers, and he calls them. The first four, Simon, Andrew, John and James, listened, abandoned everything and followed Jesus. They eventually form a community with him. It seems to be love at first sight! According to Mark’s account, everything takes place in the very first encounter with Jesus. Time (kairos) is fulfilled. God’s Kingdom has come, and it is near. Imagine living in Jesus’ day. The Roman Empire has taken over everything. Herod, the “King of the Jews,” is a hateful man who might kill anyone at any time. And along comes a rabbi who proclaims that the time is fulfilled. The time that Jesus speaks about is the assigned time of God when God reveals his face to the humans. And heaven and earth are about to be joined together. Everything is about to change – a change for people who are desperate for it. Jesus has two demands or commands as the appointed time is approaching: repent, and believe in the good news. “Repent” means, quite literally, to turn around. If we walk down a dark and scary road of our wrong attitudes and behaviours, turning around is not bad. You turn and run as quick as you can in the opposite direction. “Repent” is part of the literature of the time of the exile in Babylon, something that the Israelites knew very well. Repenting, when in exile, meant going home. And, Jesus tells us that we can go home and that God will welcome us back and throw His arms around us. And that is the good news. And, that’s what Jesus calls us to believe. It IS time…and it’s time to go Home. And believe that God our Father waits for our return despite our worst sinful behaviours.