11 January 2027 · Latin Rite
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“and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”” Mark 1:15
Ordinary Time begins with two great openings. The Letter to the Hebrews starts: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.” The prophets were many voices; the Son is God's final Word, “the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being”, greater than the angels. In these weeks we will read Hebrews slowly, learning who Christ is and what he has done.
Mark's Gospel opens Jesus' preaching with four short phrases: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Then, walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus sees two pairs of brothers at work and says: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they leave nets, boat and father. Ordinary Time is not dull time; it is the time of following Jesus day by day in ordinary life.
Theme: “The time is fulfilled… repent, and believe in the good news.”
God's final Word in the Son, and the call to follow.
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” Deuteronomy 18:18
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.” Hebrews 1:1–2
Apply: Read one chapter of Mark each day this month.
“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever;” Daniel 2:44
“and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”” Mark 1:15
Apply: Make a good examination of conscience tonight.
“He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?”” 1 Kings 19:20
“And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:17–18
Apply: Let go of one net that holds you back.
Ordinary Time is the time of following.
The Son speaks; let us listen and follow.
Take-home resolution: Read Mark's Gospel day by day through this season.
Dear friends, today Ordinary Time begins. It is called ordinary not because it is dull, but because its weeks are numbered in order. It is the time to follow Jesus through his public life.
Hebrews begins with a solemn sentence: long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). The prophets were many voices; the Son is the final Word. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being.
Mark gives us Jesus' first preaching: the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15). God's time has arrived. We must turn and trust.
Then Jesus walks by the lake and sees Simon and Andrew casting nets, James and John mending nets. Follow me and I will make you fish for people (Mark 1:17). Immediately they leave their nets. Jesus calls them in the middle of their ordinary work.
In these ordinary weeks, let us listen to the Son and let go of one net that holds us back. Amen.
Children, Jesus called fishermen to follow him, and they went right away! Jesus calls you too. How will you follow him today?
Lord Jesus, eternal Word of the Father, you call ordinary people at their work. Speak to me in these ordinary days, give me a heart that repents and believes, and help me to leave my nets and follow you. Amen.
Ordinary Time begins, and on its first weekday two beginnings are read. The Letter to the Hebrews opens with God speaking at last “by a Son”, and in Mark that Son begins to speak: “The time is fulfilled.” The psalm sings of the Lord as King, and the same Son who is above the angels walks along a lakeshore and calls fishermen. God's final word has an address, and it asks for an answer.
Setting.
In the first weeks of Ordinary Time, in this Year I, the Church reads Hebrews on weekdays. Hebrews calls itself “a word of exhortation” (13:22): it is a sermon, probably for Christians of Jewish background who were growing tired. Its author is not named; the Church received it among the letters linked with St Paul. It opens with some of the finest Greek in the New Testament: vv. 1–4 are a single long sentence.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,” (1:2)
The prophets are not set aside: it is the same God speaking. But what comes now is not one more message; the messenger is the message.
“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being,” (1:3)
Early Christians used words like these to speak of who Christ is. They stand behind the Creed's “Light from Light”.
““Let all God’s angels worship him.”” (1:6)
The quotation is from the Greek form of Deuteronomy 32:43. Verse 5 has already joined Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. Hebrews thinks in Israel's Scriptures, and reads them as speaking of the Son.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes these opening lines to teach that there will be no other Word than this one (CCC 65), and it cites St John of the Cross: in giving us his Son, God has said everything to us at once, and he has no more to say (in substance). The Second Vatican Council begins its account of revelation in Christ with the same verses (Dei Verbum 4). Verse 6 is cited for the adoration of the angels around the Incarnate Word (CCC 333), and verse 3 for the Son's relationship with the Father (CCC 241).
Setting.
The Baptism of the Lord was read yesterday, from the same chapter. Now John is arrested, and Mark at once shows Jesus in Galilee, the region ruled by Herod Antipas, who has put John in prison (6:17). The Sea of Galilee was a working place, with fishing towns along its shore. Rabbis' disciples usually chose their teachers. Here the teacher goes out and chooses.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”” (1:15)
Two facts and two commands. First comes what God has done, then what we must do.
“And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”” (1:17)
Literally “come after me”. Jeremiah 16:16 used fishing for God's judgment. Here the image is turned around: they will go out to gather people into the kingdom. They use the trade they know, but Jesus makes something new of it: “I will make you”.
“Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.” (1:20)
“Immediately” is Mark's favourite word. The “hired men” show that this family had a small business. What they left was real, and Zebedee is not abandoned: he is left with workers.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism opens its teaching on the Kingdom with Mark 1:14–15 (CCC 541), and calls this call to conversion an essential part of the proclamation of the Kingdom (CCC 1427). It adds that conversion goes on throughout the Christian life, as an uninterrupted task for the whole Church (CCC 1428). The call of the fishermen stands at the head of all Christian vocation: each person called is called to him before being called to any work.
Does “repent” just mean feeling sorry for my sins?
Sorrow is part of it, but the word is larger. The Catechism describes interior repentance as a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return to God with all our heart (CCC 1431). The fishermen leave their nets. Conversion shows up in what one does next.