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Repent Every Day
6 min
Gospel
Mt 4:12-23
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper′na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb′ulun and Naph′tali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“The land of Zeb′ulun and
the land of Naph′tali,
toward the sea, across the Jordan,
Galilee of
the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great
light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light
has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb′edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb′edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
Readings are taken from Dynamic Catholic’s Bible: RSV Catholic Edition.
It’s time to take back your life.
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Transcript
Repent Every Day
So remember each day, we look for a word, a phrase, or an idea that jumps out at us. Is there a word, a phrase, or idea that jumps out at you today? It's hard, always, I think, to look beyond this idea of repenting. Jesus begins to preach, and what does he begin to preach? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And what does that mean? What does repent mean? It means to turn back to God. And we need to do that every day, not just during Lent, not just at certain times of the year. We need to do it every day, and I don't know about you, but I need to do it many, many times a day. Because my turning away from God is usually like micro turning away. It's a little turn away, but then it's another little turn away, and then it's another little turn away. And so we need these micro adjustments many times throughout the day, these micro repentings so that we can stay aligned with God, with His values, with His message, with His call, with His invitation. And then, of course, you've got Jesus calling the first disciples. And the immediacy of their response is beautiful and confronting. It's confronting to me because I think about the practicality of that. I think, "Okay, well, they just left their nets, and they left their boats, and they they didn't have plans that night, and what did they tell their family, or did their family know, or how did they hear? Just all of these things swirl in my mind. And that happens a lot. And all of that swirling in my mind prevents me from responding to God immediately and generously, wholeheartedly. And of course, that's what they did. Jesus said, "Follow me," and they followed him. And we can think again about this as like a big part of our life, a big call that God has for us. He says, "Follow me," and our struggle to leave things behind and follow him. But again, if we come back to the idea of these micro followings, these micro calls, because throughout my day, throughout your day, Jesus is calling to us many, many times. I get in a situation and Jesus is saying, "Follow me." And I'm like, "Ah, Jesus, I don't know. I got to take care of this thing first." And Jesus is saying, "Nope, follow me." And so there's these micro calls every day. Jesus is calling me many, many times a day. In every situation, every circumstance, Jesus is saying, "Follow me." And sometimes I like that path, and sometimes I reject that path, or resist that path, or procrastinate. I'm sure we all do at different times. And so let's go out in the world today, and let's have these micro repentings, these little realignments many, many times throughout the day. And these micro callings, respond generously and wholeheartedly and immediately to these micro callings in our day. Have a great day, and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
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