“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).
With these words as recorded by Mark, Jesus begins his public ministry in time and space and we in 2025 begin the first week of Ordinary Time together. Whether we are in the season of Christmas, Easter, or Ordinary Time, each day is an opportunity to be thankful and celebrate our life for this continues to be “the time of fulfillment”. The Kingdom of God is still at hand because Jesus is still present with us.
We are not alone on our journey. The Son of God became human, as we just celebrated this Christmas season, and as we will celebrate in Easter, he died and rose again. This was no mere resuscitation like with Lazarus who rose and died again. Jesus conquered death and became the firstborn of the new creation. Ordinary Time is the season in which we not only study the life and teachings of Jesus but hopefully continue to be willing to be more conformed to his Body and the will of his Father through the love of the Holy Spirit.
One of the things that may hold us back from embracing the gift of the Kingdom of God in our midst is that we have often chosen to place our focus on other distractions or diversions or placed ourselves first before God and others. Jesus calls us to reorient our lives in urging us to repent, to turn away from the false reality that we are the center and author of our own lives, such that we come to realize the truth that God is our true author and director. To repent also means to open ourselves to his love, to place our trust in him, and to be assured that God accepts us as we are, right now at this very moment.
We do not repent so that God will love us. We do not have to do anything or act perfectly or say the right prayer for God to love us. We just need to “move the Lord out of the category of ‘polite company’ and into that of intimate friend to whom one can tell everything” (Barry 1987, 55). To repent means to turn back to the God whose arms are wide open ready to embrace us. We are given the opportunity to see where we have turned away from God. Let us run into his waiting embrace and receive the forgiveness, mercy, and love that he offers us.
The call to repent that Jesus accentuates is a continuation of the preaching of the prophets and John. What he adds to repentance is to believe. To believe is to “trustingly accept and yield to what God is doing in him. The kingdom is near enough that anyone who so chooses can reach out and lay hold of it through faith (Healy 2008, 42). As we turn back to God, reorient our minds to his guidance and direction, reflect on how much he has blessed us, we will better make an ascent to believe.
To “repent and believe” is a good way to begin our journey into Ordinary Time together. May we resist the temptation to hold anything back and share more with our Father and grow closer to God each day. Let us trust in Jesus who encourages us to resist limiting God and the possibilities he places before us. Instead of attempting to bend his will toward ours, may we allow the love of the Holy Spirit to expand our hearts and minds such that we will believe in and trust God more so to be like a pencil in his hand.
Photo: A good way to reorient our minds and hearts to the will of God and to believe is to slow down and make time to pray. Doing so at the side chapel in the Cathedral of Charleston this past June.
Barry, S.J, William A. God and You: Prayer as a Personal Relationship. NY: Paulist Press, 1987.
Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.
Spiritual Stepping Stones