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

 

Today's Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

Each Gospel has a unique way of presenting who Jesus is and how He lived. I love that Mark wastes no time recounting Jesus’ miracles. Within the first chapter alone, Mark describes Jesus healing several people and in several locations.

Just prior to today’s Gospel reading, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue when He encountered a man with an unclean spirit and healed him. After the healing, Mark shares that "on leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew.” (Mark 1:29) In this new location, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, and after praying, He announces to his disciples,:

“Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also.” Mark 1:38

Jesus has a mission to preach the news of the kingdom of God, not in one village, but in “villages," indeed to the whole region. This itinerate lifestyle required significant submission of trust from His disciples, conviction, fortitude, and constant travel.

Have you ever been on a work trip, or even a vacation, for so long that you crave your own bed, food that you’ve prepared in your own kitchen, or even the smell of your own home? We crave comfort, and I’m sure that Jesus’ disciples craved comfort, too. Yet, their conviction in Jesus was so strong that they followed Him from town to town, house to house, unknown to unknown.

Is there a time in your life when you followed Jesus in a way that required you to relinquish comfort or step into the unknown? Perhaps you followed His call to serve your family, church, or community. Are you comfortable, or maybe too comfortable, where you currently are? Take time today to pray about how and where Jesus may be asking you to follow Him to the next villages.

 

Ponder:

 

When has Jesus called you to serve in the "next village?"

 

Pray:


Lord, thank You for missionaries who go out to village after village to share the Good News. Help us to adopt a missionary spirit in our lives.

 

Click to tweet:
Are you comfortable, or maybe too comfortable, where you currently are? Take time today to pray about how and where Jesus may be asking you to follow Him to the next villages. #dailygospel

Daily Gospel 2

 

Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Tomlin

About the Author

Elizabeth Tomlin

Elizabeth Tomlin

Elizabeth is the author of Joyful Momentum: Building and Sustaining Vibrant Women’s Groups (Ave Maria Press), General Counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and director of stewardship for the Military Council of Catholic Women, where she previously served as the president and as director of faith formation. Elizabeth is a catechist and speaker, and blogs at JoyfulMomentum.org.