Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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.”

The word immediately appears 28 times in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of Saint Mark's gospel. Although the New American Bible which we use for our liturgy doesn’t translate it as such, the word appears twice in today’s brief passage:

• And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
• Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

As Saint Mark tells the story, immediately conveys the urgency of Jesus’ message. Now! Now! There is no putting off till tomorrow. So when we read that the four fishermen dropped their nets and followed Jesus we hear the urgency.

It’s practically impossible to imagine anyone simply abandoning his family and career at a moment’s notice. Exegetes might get around this problem by explaining the fishermen had probably heard of Jesus, perhaps they had heard him speak, perhaps they had spoken with him on occasion, perhaps they had already made plans and were only waiting for his signal – but all those scenarios miss the point.

We’re talking spirituality here, not history.

Every moment in the life of Christ is decisive. The disciple lives under his authority at every hour of the day. Whether we are working or playing, praying or eating, sleeping or reading the newspaper we live and move within the spirit of Jesus. 

That awareness which we practice by our daily prayer and sacrifice helps us to see both the opportunities that grace presents and the temptations that lurk everywhere. Like most other people, we want to do good and to avoid evil; but the penitent Christian knows he cannot trust his own human instincts. I have too many impulsive desires and too many obsessive fears to be guided by simple instinct. And so I pay attention to the word of God, my daily prayer, and the urgent whisper of the Holy Spirit which says "Now!"