Daily Gospel Reflection for January 10, 2022

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

Have you set New Year's resolutions this year? Sure, we are ten days into the new year, and many good intentions have been abandoned; however, I endeavor on knowing every day is an opportunity to begin anew with God. However, there is one resolution I work extra hard to keep —to follow Christ.

Every day is another chance to respond immediately to Jesus's call to follow Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. The kingdom of God is indeed at hand. Have you resolved to repent and believe in the Gospel? Repentance is an ongoing call to holiness—daily choosing to follow Jesus—to deny self, confess, and seek mercy. The heart of the Gospel is forgiveness. Jesus' mission, the reason for His birth, was to reconcile the world to the Father. His preaching teaches a message very different from that of the world, especially concerning trespasses and offenses against us. "Vengeance," as written in the Old Testament, "is his" (Deuteronomy 32:35). And gratefully, God, incarnate in the Son, is love and mercy itself!

Another resolution in my pursuit to follow Jesus includes the practice of the virtue of magnanimity. A pursuing of the great and honorable in our lives, for the word itself, means "greatness of soul," even if this task is difficult. It's acknowledging the good gifts God has bestowed on us and striving to use them to further the kingdom of God. In this virtue, we never dismiss the virtue of humility, for it is necessary to keep our lofty goals in check.

Today, resolve to follow Christ, like the first disciples, immediately leaving behind old ways and habits to embrace those graces and blessings offered by Jesus. A life filled with the love of God, forgiveness, and the pursuit of a great and humble holiness.

Ponder:

What old habits or distractions do you need to leave behind to more closely follow Christ?

Pray:

What a blessing to know, You, Lord, make all things new. As I begin this new year, guide me to put behind me anything that keeps me from repenting and believing in the Gospel.

Click to tweet:
There is one resolution I work extra hard to keep—to follow Christ. Every day is another chance to respond immediately to Jesus's call to follow Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. #dailygospel

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