This is the Time
“After John had been arrested,
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.’”Mark 1:14-15
On this first day of the first week in Ordinary Time the Church reads the beginning of the book of the Prophet Samuel, chronicling the suffering of his mother, Hannah who is barren while her husband’s other wife has several children. The other wife, Peninnah rubs its in and always reminds Hannah of how the Lord had made her barren. Whenever they would make there annual pilgrimage to the Temple Hannah would become sad, cry, and refuse to eat anything. Despite not being able to produce any children, Hannah’s husband loves her deeply and tries his best to make her feel loved and not lesser because she was unable to produce children. But Hannah was unable to be consoled.
In the Gospel we are presented with the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee, which takes place after John the Baptist had been arrested. The first words of Jesus were “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This is the time of fulfillment. There is a sense of urgency here, a theme which runs through Mark’s Gospel. What is being fulfilled? The Kingdom of God is here. In fact, it is right in front of them: Jesus Christ. He is the Kingdom. And what should our response be in the presence of Christ and the coming Kingdom? Repent and believe. We are called to repent and believe because the time for all things to be made new is here. Jesus then goes and calls His first disciples: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John — two pairs of brothers. It always makes me wonder what was it that made them all stop what they were doing and to follow Jesus right then and there. They literally dropped whatever they had in their hands and followed Jesus. By this abandoning of their current lives, they were repenting, turning around, and following Jesus and in doing so, believing in Him and the Good News He brings.
On the one hand in the first reading we see a faithful woman who had been barren and suffered embarrassment and ridicule for it. And on the other hand we are told that the one who went before the Lord preparing His way and urged the people to turn from their ways had been arrested. Although we cannot see it yet, we know Hannah eventually bears Samuel, who becomes a great prophet and John the Baptist gives his life bearing witness to Christ and His Gospel. The sufferings of both resulted in life, life not for themselves, but for others, for the greater glory of God, a life that would lead to the time that Jesus announced as the time of fulfillment.
As we begin Ordinary Time, I invite all of us to reflect on our journey of faith and our response to Jesus’ invitation to repent and believe. Do we, like the first disciples, drop whatever it is that keeps us away from God, and follow Jesus or are we hesitant? If we are hesitant, what are the causes of that hesitation? May we ask the Lord for the grace to see these causes and the courage to look them face to face and with the Lord embrace them and allow Him to bring new life through them.
Calling of the First Apostles, 1481, Domenico Ghirlandaio
