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    \ St John the Baptist Preaching Joseph Parrocel [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel  Mark 1:1-8 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,  “Behold, I send my   messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness:   ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,  make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.   And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.   Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt round his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.   And he preached, saying, “After me

  When I was praying with the morning readings today, I was struck by the first line of Psalm 72, which goes like this: “O God, give your judgment to the kings; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment . . .” Huh? What does that mean? I wondered. In checking out the footnotes I learned that as representative of God, the Israelite king was considered the “instrument of divine justice,” so this verse is actually a petition that the king will get what he needs in order to carry out his work, because he can only give “what he has received from God.” Wow!   How fitting that is for us today! As disciples of Jesus, we too, can only give what we receive from him.   The first thing that came to mind is love.   We can only give God’s love to others if we have received it ourselves.   Interestingly, reception requires openness, as well as humility. Humility comes in knowing that whatever you have to offer the w

  An important attitude for parishes to adopt is one of Intentional Discipleship . Sherry Weddell in her book Forming Intentional Disciples describes the self-awareness necessary for individuals to see themselves as a disciple, as well as the necessity of having a personal encounter with Christ, as the stimulus to move a parish from a state of stagnation to a state of vibrancy. It just so happens that today’s reading from the 10 th Chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Verses 9-18, gives us a perfect example of discipleship, without actually naming it as such. Paul says that we will be saved if we “confess” with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, adding that we must “believe” in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Do you do those things? Here’s the key . . . While you may call on the name of the Lord and be saved, what about everyone else?   What about people who have not believed, or not heard?   How can they call on Jesus if they have not heard someone preach