HERE IS A TEACHING THAT IS NEW

Jesus teaches in the synagogue at Capernaum, the home town of Simon Peter. The people of the town are impressed by the authority with which Jesus speaks. Every week in the synagogue, they heard the teaching of the scribes, who would give an interpretation of the Scriptures based on the opinions of other rabbis and teachers. But for Jesus, the Hebrew Scriptures are a living word from God. He teaches on his own authority, and from his own experience of God’s love and power. The words of the Scriptures come to life on his lips. No wonder his teaching makes a deep impression on the people. Even the unclean spirits recognise, with fear, Jesus’ power and authority: a power that is exercised to free those who are in the grip of evil. The kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus brought healing and hope to the people of his own time, and he brings healing and hope to us today.

Week of Guided Prayer

Our Ignatian retreat in daily life is this week. The opening meeting is Sunday 21st January, after evening Mass. If you have signed up to meet with a prayer guide, please come to the opening meeting, so that you can be allocated to your guide and arrange a time to meet. The evening workshops are open to everyone: these are (all at 7.30pm): Tuesday – Ways of Praying; Wednesday – Discernment and Decision making; Thursday – Humanity in God. The church will be open each day for private prayer, and there will be extra slots for the Sacrament of Reconciliation – see the retreat leaflet. The cost of the retreat is £10 for students and retired people, £20 for those in paid work – but please speak to Fr Andrew if the cost is a problem – we don’t want anyone to miss out on the retreat.

Follow Me!

In today’s Gospel Jesus calls his first disciples – two pairs of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John. What did they see in Jesus, that prompted them to follow him? Mark’s Gospel tells us nothing of what the disciples thought or felt. Jesus’ message was a stark and simple one: “Repent, and believe the Good News.” Somehow, this was enough for the four to decide that they would follow him. They left behind their homes and families, and their occupation as fishermen, to become disciples of a wandering rabbi. Jesus was calling them to witness: “I will make you fishers of men.” The disciples would spend the rest of their lives witnessing to the Good News that they had heard from Jesus. They gave their lives to him. Jesus calls each one of us by name, to follow him and to witness to the Good News. What is he asking of us today?

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